Twister
by Dede42
Summary: Ever since Jo's father was taken from her by an F5 Tornado, she's been obsessed with chasing them and finding a way to figure out how they actually work in order to create a better Tornado Warning system. Will Jo be successful or will she be another victim of the very twisters she was chasing?
1. Prologue: A CHANGE OF FATE

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Hi, guys. So I wrote this some time ago and decided to post it for you to keep you happy until I can post something else or finally get back to working on Season 4 of Supernatural. I had intended to do a series of Twister stories, but I fizzled out after finishing this one. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this, and I did censor out the worst of the swear words. Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE: A CHANGE OF FATE**

" _For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?_ _"_

 _Romans 8:24_

Wakita, Oklahoma

June 2, 1969…

A storm was raging over most of Kingfisher county, and in one of the farm houses, a man poured himself some coffee in the kitchen before heading into the living room, where the black/white TV was on the weather and there was a tornado warning flashing across the screen.

 _`"_ _…_ _by radar now. There it is. The center of the circle over Kingfisher county, moving northeastward….a little bit earlier….tornado warning continues now, it's been extended officially_ _…"`_

* * *

Upstairs in a bedroom, five-year-old Jo was sleeping in her bed with the family dog, Toby, sleeping at her feet. A loud crash of thunder woke her up, and she was sitting up when her mother hurried into the bedroom.

"Jo? Common'," she said, doing her best to remain calm, but it was clear that she was on the verge of a panic attack as she scooped her daughter out of the bed, along with her Raggedy Ann doll.

"What is it, Mommy?" Jo asked.

Her mom didn't know how to answer the question since there wasn't that much time to get out of the house. "Common' sweetie, let's get up. Common'. It's okay." She carried her daughter out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Toby was left on the bed. "It's okay."

* * *

Halfway down the stairs, Father met them, carrying a blanket. "We need to get down to the storm cellar right now," he said as he hurried them down the stairs and toward the front door. "TV says it's big. Might be an F5."

His wife nodded. "Okay, we're going to the storm cellar."

Jo, however, realized that their dog wasn't with them. "Toby?" she called out as they headed outside.

* * *

They run out of the house, where things were exploding because of the lightning, and items were falling all around them.

"Hurry, we've got to move!" he called out, grabbing his daughter. "Hand her to me! Common', let's move!"

The mother gave Jo to the father, and they kept running. Eventually they got to the storm cellar, which was a door in the ground.

* * *

Back inside the house, Toby ran downstairs, passing the TV where the weather man was instructing people to either hide in their cellar or basement, or in the center of the house if they didn't have either to hide in, and out of the house.

* * *

Jo's mother cringed as the lightning destroyed things around them. " _AHHH!_ We're almost there, we're almost there!"

"Take her, take her!" Jo's father shouted, handing her back to her mouther. "I gotta get the door! Hurry! Let's go!" He pried open the storm cellar door, and they get inside, where he slammed the door and closed the latch. Unaware that Toby had just ran up and was pawing at the door, trying to get inside.

* * *

Jo, however, knew that their dog was still out there with the incoming tornado. "Daddy, daddy, Toby's still outside!"

Her father unlatched the door and opened it. "Common' Toby, common' boy!" Toby jumped inside, and he shut the door once again, latching it.

Jo scooped the small dog into her arms. "It's okay, Toby."

Her mother lighted a kerosene lamp and they sat on a wooden bench together, waiting for the tornado to pass. Suddenly, the door began shaking violently, and there was a loud roaring, like a freight train nearby.

"Daddy!" Jo whimpered as debris flew past the window above their heads.

"Grab Jo, honey!" her father ordered before climbing up the stairs and he pulled the handle toward him in order to keep the door closed. "Take Jo!"

Jo was whimpering as her mother held her, watching fearfully as the door kept shaking, and it was clear that the tornado had stalled nearby. Her father grunted as it became harder and harder for him to keep the door shut. Harder.

"I can't hold it! _DEAR GOD!_ " he shouted, clinging to the handle as the door kept shaking and the hinges and latch were starting to break loose. " _OH, GOD!I CAN'T HOLD IT DOWN! AHHHHHHHH!_ " And he screamed as the door was ripped free by the tornado, taking him with it. Screaming, he disappeared into the twister.

Jo and her mother were screaming in horror. Pulling free of her mother's arms, Jo ran forward to the doorway flailing her arms at the now open doorway. " _DADDY! MY DADDYYYYY!_ "

However, her mother pulled her back, and held onto her tightly, as the twister disappeared into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Jo and her mother climbed out of the storm shelter with Toby running ahead, and they stared at the devastation left behind by the tornado, which included the barn and the house. Their neighbors came out of hiding to help them search for anything that might've survived, and it wasn't long before the body of Jo's father was found ten miles away.

He had been found in a ditch, still holding onto the door, and Jo made herself a vow then and there, that she would chase after tornados and make sure that no one else had to go through what she went through. She was going to save lives.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this until next time. R&R everyone!


	2. Chapter 1: MEETING THE TEAM AND DOROTHY

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Well, I admit that I'm a bit disappointed that not a lot of people have been reading this so far, but that should hopefully change after this chapter is posted. I would also like to take a moment to remember the people who were killed in the shooting in Las Vegas, and the people who risked their lives to save as many people as they could.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE: MEETING THE TEAM AND DOROTHY**

" _And if he or she confess not thou shalt deliver him or her up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders. And it shall be done in a meeting, and that not before the world._ _"_

 _D &C 42:89_

Norman, Oklahoma

June 17, 1996…

At the National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL), the staff were gearing up for a busy day since there were a number of storm cells converging on the state, and that meant that there was a strong possibility of there going to be a lot more tornadoes then usual.

 _"_ _At 7:00 a.m. in Oklahoma City, the temperature is 75 degrees. Across the state, skies are partly cloudy, the dryline higher over western Oklahoma. Satellite pictures indicate thunderstorms developing_ _…"`_

As more reports came over the radio, two of the staff members, Murphy and Bryce were looking over data on one of the computers.

"Bryce, take a look," Murphy said, showing a picture to her. "Caps are starting to break."

"All the models are forecasting lifted indexes from minus six to minus ten," Bryce remarked, examining the photo.

Murphy nodded. "You know if these cells keep building like this we could have a record outbreak of tornadoes," he remarked, eating a doughnut.

Bryce sighed. "This is gonna be a long day," she muttered, drinking some tea.

* * *

In a different part of the state, a red Dodge Ram pickup truck was driving down a dirt road with fields of either wheat or corn on either side, along with the occasional oil drill, and a crop duster flew by, spraying one of the fields. In the truck, Bill Harding was driving the truck and seated next to him was his fiancée, Melissa Reeves.

"Um, honey, are you sure she's gonna be here?" Melissa asked as she pocketed her cellphone, having just talked with a patient.

"If I know Jo, she's already dragged her entire department into the field," Bill assured her as he drove down the road. Earlier he'd called the university that his soon to be ex-wife, Jo Harding, worked at, and learned that she was out in the field, preparing for the upcoming tornado season. "Ah, hell, a day like today, it's to be expected. She forgets everything except her work," he added.

Melissa looked at her future husband thoughtfully. "You're nervous about seeing her, aren't you?" she inquired.

"Nervous?" Bill repeated, surprised. "No. Why, do I look nervous?"

"No. Well, yeah you do, a little," Melissa admitted.

Bill sighed. "I just want to get it over with."

Melissa nodded thoughtfully. "But she said she signed the papers, right?" she asked, referring to the divorce papers that Jo had been given back in December.

"That's what she said," Bill confirmed.

Melissa didn't look convinced. "You don't think so?"

"No, I think so," Bill reassured her, gently squeezing his hand. "Give me a kiss." And they exchanged a kiss before returning his attention to the road.

* * *

Meanwhile in a field, there was a collection of vehicles, ranging from a station wagon to a large bus. 32-year-old Jo Harding was on the roof of a blue van, trying to get the Doppler radar dish to work, and inside the van, Tim "Beltzer" Lewis, was working on the wireless connection.

 _"Okay professor, hang on there, I think I fixed it,"`_ he called out, knocking on the ceiling of the van. _"`I've got it."`_ Jo tried turning on the Doppler radar dish, and she winced away as sparks flew out. _`"Oops_ _."`_

"Oh, crap!" Jo shouted, frustrated since this was the fifth time that week that the radar had failed to work. "This thing is useless!"

 _`"Sorry, Jo,"`_ Beltzer apologized.

Jo blinked when the radar suddenly started working and turning on its own. "Wait, wait, wait. Beltzer!" she exclaimed, banging on the roof with her fist. "That's good. Give me a reading!"

Opening the side door on the van, Beltzer climbed out of van. "Okay, boss lady, hold your horses," he grumbled and went over to a laptop that connected to the Doppler, and his wife, Haynes, was there. "Which way do you want it, Jo?"

Jo peered into the distance, where there was a large buildup of nasty-looking storm clouds. "Looks like the dryline has stalled," she called out. "Give me a sector scan west, northwest, look at mid-levels for rotation and increase the PRF."

* * *

While this was going on, Dusty Davis was inside his bus, which was filled with monitoring equipment, and on one of the screens, a music video started playing as he sang a long a little before blowing a raspberry. He jumped out and he looked up at the speakers as the song played over the sound system.

 _`"_ _If I mistreat you girl, sho' don't mean no harm_ _…"`_

* * *

At the second van, which was a sky blue with the Angel Moroni painted on both sides, the Martin sisters, Elle and Maxine Martin, had equipment set up on two folding tables, and they were arguing when one of the computers suddenly got the blue screen of death.

"Dang it! Max I thought you installed the new system before we left home!" Elle complained, throwing a crumbled ball of paper at her sister's head.

"I did!" Maxine objected. "It ain't my fault that they gave us a PC instead of the Mac!"

* * *

Another argument was going on at an old ford bullnose F150 between Robert "Rabbit" Nurick and Sanders, who were in charge of making sure that the team could take the best and quickest routes to the tornadoes once they'd touched down.

"All I'm saying is don't fold the maps!" Rabbit scolded his friend as they went to a table they'd set up to study the maps.

"I didn't fold the map!" Sanders protested, drinking a diet coke.

Rabbit shook his head and held up a map that'd been clearly folded. "Yeah, well Kansas is a mess, there's a big crease right through Wichita-" and he tossed several rolled maps onto the table. "Roll the maps."

* * *

While all of this was going on, Bill and Melissa drove up and parked not far from the team.

"What do you know, the storm chasers," Bill called out as they got out of the truck.

Rabbit and Sanders ran up to greet them. "Hey, I don't believe it! Who is that handsome devil!"

Bill grinned and shook hands with them. "Gentleman."

Dusty spotted them, and he was excited when he saw Bill. "The Extreme!" he shouted, acting silly and grinning widely. " _IT'S THE EXTREME!_ " And he laughed, thrilled.

Bill chuckled, used to his friend's antics. "Oh man, don't start that shit!"

Dusty gripped his friend's hand tightly, still grinning madly. "Oh manly hand shakin' Zeus. How you doin', man?" he asked.

"Doin' great, doin' great," Bill answered as they did a man hug.

Dusty was still laughing. "Oh bad!"

"Dusty, I'd like you to meet Melissa," Bill said as Melissa walked over to join them. "Melissa, this is Dusty. Dustman's been chasing with us ever since we started." And they shook hands. "Listen man, where's Jo?" he asked.

"She's over by Doppler," Dusty answered, nodding to the blue van, where Jo was still on the roof with said radar. "Broke down again, running out of grant money."

' _Running out of grant money, again?'_ Bill thought as he turned to Melissa. "Honey, why don't you hang out here for a little while, I'll – I'll be right back," he suggested.

Melissa nodded as Dusty took her hand, making her flush a little. "Okay."

"Dusty, why don't you explain to Melissa…why you are the way you are?" Bill suggested and they exchanged ridiculous faces and laughed as Dusty did a silly dance that caused Melissa to giggle.

Dusty shook his head as he lead Melissa over to the bus. "Come on. Man. Jo's gonna wig when she sees he's back."

Bill, who was walking over to where Jo was, called after him, annoyed. "I'm not back."

Jason "Preacher" Rowe, who was giving his station wagon a tuneup, turned and beamed when he saw Bill. "The prodigal son returns!"

Bill exchanged a few words with him, waved hi to Elle and Maxine, who waved back with delighted expression, and as he passed by Joey, who's holding a weather instrument and writing down data on a clipboard, he patted his shoulder.

"Hiya, Joey."

Joey blinked and looked up from his work, surprised. Hey, Bill."

Bill walked up to the van as there was a rumble of thunder in the distance, and he looked up at Jo, who was crouched behind the radar, which was scanning the sky. "Hiya, Jo."

Jo peered from behind the radar and she grinned, having been expecting him. "Hey, Bill. I'm happy you found us."

"How you doin'?" Bill asked, doing his level best not to admire her in her white tank top and the tanned jumpsuit wrapped around her waist.

Jo straightened up as she looked at Bill, and then she nodded at the sky. "It's goin' good. You see the sky today?" she asked.

Bill nodded. "Yeah, she's, uh – she's really talking."

Jo tossed him a cord. "Catch." Bill caught it and gave her an annoyed look as she jumped off the van." It's the biggest series of storms in 12 years," she explained as she lead him over to where the laptop was set up, and the Lewis' greeted Bill. "One lined up right after another. And NSSL says they've never seen anything like it."

Bill sighed, handing the cord to Beltzer, trying not to show his interest in what she was saying. "Is that right? So, Jo, about the divorce papers-" he began.

"Hey, Jo?" Brian Laurence called out from his van, holding up a camera. "Come here a second!"

Jo sighed. "Oops." And she went over to him.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah sure," Bill grumbled, heading after her, needing to get the divorce papers as soon as possible.

* * *

Laurence handed her the camera. "Hey, you know, this thing's acting up again, this thing-"

"Focus mount's jammed," Jo interrupted, finding the problem. "There's grass in the auto-focus, did you check this? You have to check it." And she blew the grass out.

"I'll check it- you want me to clean it out?" Laurence stammered, flushing at his mistake as he took the camera back.

"Not unless you want to sketch the tornadoes," Jo teased, walking past Bill and she headed back to the laptop.

Laurence saw Bill and smiled. "Hey, welcome back, Bill."

Bill rolled his eyes as he backtracked. "I'm not back."

* * *

Jo was wiring the laptop to the radar when Bill rejoined her. "So, you want the papers?" she asked, glancing at him.

"I did drive all the way out here for them," Bill replied, annoyed that she was being stubborn.

Jo nodded. "They're signed and ready."

"Good, good. Let's see them," Bill requested, wanting to get out of there.

Jo looked at him questioningly. "What, you need 'em right this second?"

Bill nodded. "Well, It'd be nice."

Jo smirked. "What's the urgent urgency, you act like you're getting married-"

"I am," Bill interrupted.

Jo blinked, masking the fact that she was disappointed to hear that he was getting married again so soon. "Wow."

Bill nodded. "Yeah."

Not letting on how upset she was, Jo headed for her truck to get the papers, and he followed her. "Is it Melinda?" she asked, trying to recall the name of the woman he was going to marry.

"Melissa," Bill corrected.

"Melissa," Jo muttered to herself and then glanced back at him. "Wasn't there a Melinda in there somewhere?"

Bill shook his head as they reached the yellow truck that had a tarp covering the back. "No, there's only been Melissa since you.

"Boy, not much for browsing, are you?" Jo asked as she grabbed the papers out of her glove compartment.

"No, I guess I'm not," Bill admitted.

Jo handed him the papers. "There you go."

"Thank you," Bill said and he promptly flipped through them to make sure they were all signed. Jo shut the glove compartment and then put her graduation ring over her wedding ring, a symbolical way for her to feel like she was still married.

Bill reached the last page and paused. _'Seriously?'_ "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You missed a page," he announced, showing her the paper.

Jo looked at him, pretending to be surprised. "What?"

Bill pointed to the last page, which had his signature on it, along with the signature of the divorce lawyer, but Jo's signature was missing. "Right here."

Jo took the papers back, and she made a show of looking through the papers. "Where'd this come from?" she wondered and she proceeded to read the last page, hunched over the hood of the truck.

"What are you doing?" Bill asked, exasperated.

"Can I read it first?" Jo requested.

"No!" Bill protested, annoyed with her attempts to stall. "It's the same as it was in December."

Jo grinned and lied through her teeth. "I didn't read it in December."

Bill groaned and held out a pen to her. "Christ, would you just sign it so we can get out of here? _Please?_ "

"We?" Jo repeated, blinking. "She's here?"

"Yes, she's here, she's over with Dusty," Bill confirmed, exasperated. "Now would you please sign the document?"

"You left her with Dusty?" Jo teased, enjoying his annoyance. "What's the matter with you?" And she walked away, leaving the papers on the hood of the car.

"What are you doing?" Bill called after her.

"I want to meet her," Jo replied, heading for the bus.

"No you don't," Bill protested, moving after her, and then he went back to get the papers, frustrated. "Christ."

* * *

Over at the bus, Dusty and Melissa were sitting on a pair of folding chairs under a colorful beach umbrella, and Melissa was entranced by what Dusty was telling her concerning tornadoes as they sipped two fruit drinks he'd mixed up earlier.

"The suck zone- it's the point- basically at which the twister sucks you up, but it's not that technical therefore obviously, but-" he was saying.

Jo walked up at that moment. "Hi," she said and Melissa jumped a little, returning to the present. "I'm Jo Harding."

Melissa quickly got up. "Oh, hello, nice to meet you." And they shook hands as Bill caught up.

"Bill just told me the happy news," Jo added, hiding her disgust for the dark-haired woman.

Melissa blinked. "Which?"

"Us, marriage," Bill reminded her and did the introductions. "Jo, Melissa."

"It's happy news," Jo remarked.

Melissa nodded. "I guess, uh, it probably seems kind of sudden."

"Seems sudden?" Jo repeated, looking between them questioningly.

Dusty, who'd been wearing goggles over his eyes, lowered them with interest. "Dude, you takin' the vows? That's sweet!" he joked and grunted when Jo kicked his leg.

"Well, we- we just wanted to get it done before Billy started his new job," Melissa explained, slightly embarrassed.

Jo nodded, having heard about the upcoming job back in December when she first got the divorce papers. "That's right, that's right, right, right, right. Weatherman!"

Bill was immediately offended. "What?"

Jo looked at him innocently. "What?"

Bill glowered at her. "Say it."

Jo shrugged, still wearing an innocent expression on her face. "I said weatherman, I think it's great."

Bill didn't believe her for a second. "How come you had that tone?" he demanded.

"There was no tone if you have a problem being a weatherman," Jo assured him.

"I don't have a problem being a weatherman," Bill protested.

The possible argument was interrupted when Melissa's cellular phone started ringing. She fished through her purse to get it, and then she answered it. "Excuse me. Dr. Melissa Reeves here? Uh-huh?"

"Just wanted to say hello," Jo told her, earning a nod, and then she went to check out the red pickup.

While listening to the patient on the end of the phone call, Melissa made a signal to Bill if Jo's signed the papers yet.

Bill shook his head, frustrated. "What? No!" And he hurried after Jo.

* * *

Jo circled the truck when he reached her, and she was impressed by what she was seeing. "New truck?" she asked.

Bill nodded. "That's right."

"Boy oh boy. New job, new truck, new wife… it's like a whole new you!" Jo said sarcastically, hiding her disappointment.

Bill sighed. "Jo…"

"This is very awkward," Jo admitted.

"I know, tell me about it," Bill agreed.

"I thought you'd be coming out here alone," Jo added, which was true since she hadn't expected to meet the woman who was going to replace her.

"I wasn't expecting on coming out here at all you said you meet me-" Bill began.

"It's about Dorothy," Jo interrupted.

Bill stared at her for a long moment. "Dorothy?" he repeated. "What about her?"

Jo grinned, knowing that she had him hooked. "She's here."

Bill's eyes widened as the words sunk in. "Show me."

* * *

Jo lead Bill back to her truck, where she removed the tarp to reveal a large metal container covered with red warning lights and gages. It had DOROTHY written on one side with the roman numeral for one and also had a picture of Dorothy Gale on it, too.

"I can't believe you did it," Bill said, staring at it in amazement.

"We built four of 'em," Jo added, and her grin was growing bigger.

"She work?" Bill asked, unable to hide his eagerness.

Still grinning, Jo lowered the tailgate, enabling Bill to climb up, and he began examine the instrument. "Thought you'd want to be here for her first time out," she pointed out. "It wouldn't be right if you weren't here." And the whole team ran over, excited to see Bill next to Dorothy.

Joey laughed. "This is gonna be good!"

"I can't wait to see her in action," Elle agreed.

Maxine nodded. "Same here, especially after all the work we put into building them."

Dusty brought Melissa over to the truck, and he referred to Dorothy. "How sweet is that? Bill's concept man. Boom! The extreme. Man, it came from his brain," he said proudly.

Bill flushed a little. "I had a hand in it."

"Wow, it is great," Melissa remarked, although it was clear that she was confused. "What is it?"

"It's an instrument pack for studying tornadoes," Bill informed her. "First one in history."

"It's very exciting," Jo explained, climbing into the truck so that she was standing next to Bill and Dorothy. "Scientists have been studying tornadoes for ever, but still, nobody knows how a tornado works," she continued. "We have no idea what's going on inside because no one's ever been able to take scientific measurements from inside the funnel. That's what she's gonna do."

That kinda made sense to Melissa. "How?"

"We put her up inside a tornado," Jo explained and pushed a button. "She opens up," the lid opened, almost hitting Bill "and releases hundreds of these sensors." She took one out and handed it to her. "That measure all parts of the tornado simultaneously."

Melissa examined the sensor, which made her think of a Christmas ornament, and handed it back.

"You see, Melissa, it's like this," Bill explained, picking up one of the sensors and demonstrated how it would go up into the tornado. "These sensors go up the funnel, and radio back information about the internal structure, wind velocities, flow, asymmetry. We could learn more in 30 seconds than we have in the past 30 years. Get a profile of a tornado for the first time."

Now that made more sense to Melissa… kinda. "And what will that do?" she inquired.

"If we knew how a tornado really worked, we could design an advance warning system," Bill answered.

"Aren't there already tornado warnings?" Melissa asked.

Bill shrugged. "Well the-"

"They're not good enough, they're nowhere near good enough," Jo interrupted with an intensity that surprised the dark-hared woman. "Right now, it's 3 minutes. If we can get this new information, we can increase warning time to 15 minutes."

"Give people a chance to get to safety," Bill added. "At least that's what these guys are trying to do!" And the team yelled and cheered. He jumped down, and Beltzer helped Jo down. "I can't believe you actually did it," he praised.

Jo flushed, pleased. "Well, we" she referred to the team "did it."

"How do you get it in the tornado?" Melissa asked since that hadn't been explained yet.

"Well, you got to get in front of the tornado and put it in the damage path," Bill explained. "And then get out again before it picks you up too." And he agreed with his fiancée's concerned expression.

"It's the suck zone!" Dusty whispered into her ear.

Melissa was startled when he did that. "Ohh."

* * *

In the mean time, Haynes had been on the phone with the weather beauru. "Excellent!" she exclaimed, getting their attention as she hung up the phone. "Jo, we got major action! The NSSL says the caps are breaking, the tower's going up to 30 miles up the dryline!"

Jo looked up at the sky, and then at Bill. Suddenly focused, she slammed the tailgate shut. "All right, let's go!" And the team headed for their respective vehicles.

"All right, we're movin'!"

"It's fatty time!"

Soon, they all were scrambling to pack everything back in their vehicles.

"Jo, we got it!"

"Rabbit, you're up. Let's go, let's go. Hurry up, we haven't got all day, let's go!"

"Joey, Haynes, a little help?" Beltzer called out to Joey, who ran over, just as he tossed down the Doppler.

"Yes, sir," said Joey, catching the Doppler, and Haynes helped him store it into the van. "Right behind you."

Dusty was tossing all his beach stuff in his bus, and Joey and Haynes give a "mutual fingersnap".

"Smooth!"

Haynes was soon busy searching for whatever she hasn't packed. "Where is it? There it is!"

"We're all ready here!" Elle called out as she and Maxine finished packing up their gear and climbed into their van. "The Moroni Mobile is ready to go!"

"Common' Dusty, you're always the last one to go!" Rabbit called out to Dusty, who was tossing the last of his beach gear into the back of the bus.

"All right, Beltzer. Preacher, follow!" Haynes ordered.

"Laurence, don't forget the camera!" Jo called out, pointing to the camera that was on a stand.

Laurence ran back to get the camera. "I got it, I got it!"

"They can handle this, they know what they're doing," Bill told Melissa as they walked back to their truck. "I mean, well, this is what they do, they live for this."

Melissa nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Dorothy 2 and 3 ready!" Beltzer called out.

"Dorothy 4 ready!" Haynes confirmed as they shut the doors on their van.

Melissa noted how Bill kept glancing back at the team and at Dorothy I. "Are you sure you don't want to go along?"

"No," Bill said and then blinked. "Oh, with them you mean?" he asked.

Melissa nodded. "Well, yeah."

"No, they'll be fine," Bill said reassuringly as the team started driving past them, with Jo in the lead, honking her horn as she passed them.

"Did she sign the papers?" Melissa asked.

"Oh, crap!" Bill cursed, recalling that he had the papers and Jo still hadn't signed the last page.

"She didn't?" Melissa was surprised and disappointed.

"Common', if we hurry we can still catch them!" Bill exclaimed and they run to their truck, got in, and followed the team.

* * *

A/N: Will Bill be able to catch up with Jo? Stay tune for next week's installment. R&R everyone!


	3. Chapter 2: COMPETITION AND A CLOSE CALL

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Well, there's been a slight improvement on how many people are reading this particular story, but I'm still a bit disappointed. Anyhow, I'm going to keep posting these chapters no matter what.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO: COMPETITION AND A CLOSE CALL**

" _The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth._ _"_

 _Psalms 145:18_

Oklahoma

June 17, 1996…

It wasn't long before the team was out on the road, driving fast, and Bill was bringing up the rear in his truck, listening to the chatter on the radio as the team members communicated with each other with updates.

 _`"Rabbit!"`_

 _`"Yeah, boss?"`_

 _`"_ _Can we do better than the 30_ _?"`_

Rabbit checked one of his maps while removing the pencil he was holding in his mouth. "No. Not for a while," he replied. "It's best to stay on it until we pass Rogers creek."

 _`"Copy that."`_

* * *

While listening to the chatter, Bill came to a decision. "Once we catch up with them, you take the truck and head home," he suggested. "I'll get the papers signed and see you tonight. Okay?"

"No!" Melissa protested, smiling. "You know what honey, I find this kind of interesting. I'm gonna tag along!"

Bill was surprised to hear her say that, but then he was distracted when a caravan of six black Windstar vans pulled up along side Jo's group. "Jonas!" he exclaimed, recognizing the man in the lead car, which was pulling a black trailer. "Son of a bitch!"

"Who is that, honey?" Melissa inquired.

"Jonas Miller. He's a nightcrawler," Bill explained as he pulled alongside Jonas' window, they both nodded their heads, acknowledging each other. "We all started out in the same lab, but Jonas went out and got himself some corporate sponsors. He's in it for the money, not the science. He's got a lot of high-tech gadgets, but he's got no instincts. And he doesn't have Dorothy," he added proudly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jo was focused on driving her truck when Beltzer's voice came over the radio.

 _`"Jo, I think we got fleas!"`_

Before Jo could respond to that, she heard Bill's voice and she grinned as she spoke to him instead. "Hey there, you change your mind?" she asked.

 _`"Yeah, what's Jonas doin' here?"`_ Bill asked.

Jo checked her side view mirror and saw the six cars. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "But I bet he's asking himself the same question about you."

At that _exact_ moment, one of the cars, the biggest of them, suddenly swerved toward Bill's truck, and forced him off the road.

"Oh, crap, hold on!" Bill yelped, trying to keep them from flipping as they ended up in a ditch, and one of the tires went flat. "Damn son of a bitch!"

* * *

Two hours later and the help of the team, allowing Melissa a chance to get to know the other members, the red truck was parked outside a repair ship, and Bill pulled the flat tire out of the back as the auto-technician came over.

"How long do you think it'll take to fix?" Bill asked.

The auto-technician examined the tire. "Oh, maybe 10 minutes, 15 tops."

Bill checked his watch and nodded. "Sounds good." As he headed for the team, who weren't too far off and were looking over maps, his attention was drawn to the other side of the street, where Jonas' team was parked near the diner, and his team was filming him.

"What drives me is the unknown," Jonas was telling the camera as a black object was pulled out of the trailer. "What if we could predict a tornado's path? How many lives would be spared with the creation of an early warning system?" He gestured to the large weather instrument. "And D.O.T. 3 is the answer! The first digital orthographic telemeter. And inside," the cover opened in segments, "she holds hundreds of these little sensors." He held up a square sensor. "Which when released into the tornado, will transmit back data on wind speed, pressure, and dew point temperature."

Bill stared in horrid realization: Jonas had stolen he and Jo's idea!

Jo looked up and noticed his pissed expression. "Bill?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, running across the street.

"Bill, don't-" Jo began as she and the team chased after him.

"Which will soon be the center of all study-" Jonas was saying when Bill knocked off his hat, grabbed him by his collar, and pushed him against his van. "Hey! Hey!"

"You stole my design, you son of a bitch!" Bill raged, his face red with fury. "What you think, I wasn't gonna find out about this?"

"Hey, guys, can you get this loser off me?" Jonas grunted as his men grabbed Bill, trying to pry him off.

Jo's team ran over, and they managed to pull Bill away from Jonas and from Jonas's men.

"Back off! Back off!" Dusty told Bill. "It's not worth it!"

Jonas straightened his collar and retrieved his hat. "What is the matter with you?" he demanded.

Bill tried to lunge at him, but he was being restrained by Dusty and the other guys. "You stole my design, you son of a bitch!" he shouted, struggling in their grip.

"Calm down!" Rabbit exclaimed.

"What the hell you talkin' about?" Jonas inquired sharply.

"Dorothy!" Bill snapped. "You took her, you damn thief!"

Jonas instantly became smug. "Oh I get it," he said. "You want to take credit for my design. Is that it?"

"You're a liar," Bill growled. "She was our idea and you know it."

"Unrealized idea," Jonas corrected, still looking smug, "unrealized."

Bill tried to at him again, prompting him to hide behind his own men. "That ain't worth crap!"

Jo ran over, and she broke up the fight. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" she shouted, getting between the two teams. "Guys, guys. All my guys, get a grip on yourselves." She turned her attention to Bill. "We both know he'll never get that thing up in the air."

"That's right!" Beltzer agreed.

"No way that high-tech piece of junk will ever fly," said Elle and Maxine agreed.

"No way."

Jonas, however, had other ideas. "Well let me enlighten you people!" he spoke up, moving behind his technology and closed the segmented cover. "This baby has satellite comlink. We've got on-board pulse Doppler, we've got NEXRAD real time. Today, we're gonna make history. So stick around," he continued as Jo lifted an eyebrow contemptuously. "Cuz' the days of sniffin' the dirt are over."

"Better than what you sniff," Rabbit grumbled.

"We'll see who gets there first, _pal_ ," Bill sneered.

"Oh, and by the way, I really enjoy your weather reports!" Jonas called back and his crew laugh.

Bill tried to get at him again but Dusty and Sanders held him back. "You slime! I ain't through with you yet! Come on! Come here! Come on! Come on! Get your hands off me! I'm all right! O. K!" And they finally let him go.

"He's a corporate kiss-butt, man!" Joey complained.

Jo turn to Bill, whose face was still red. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I should have told you."

"One day," Bill told her curtly. "I'll give you one day. Whether she flies or not I'm gone."

Melissa ran up, having heard and seen the fight. "Honey, is everything okay?" she asked, concerned.

"It's okay, everything's fine," Bill reassured her.

"Are you sure?" Melissa questioned, unsure.

Bill nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, everything's okay."

"Okay," Melissa agreed, but she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Listen, I'm gonna hang out here and get some air," Bill said. "Why don't you get us some cold drinks."

Melissa nodded. "Okay, sweetheart."

"Okay," Bill agreed, grabbed a handful of dirt, and he looked up at the sky. It'd been said storm chasers have a sixth sense, and as Bill sifted a hand full of dirt, he let nature embody his mind.

* * *

Jo entered the diner and was immediately approached by Jonas, who had been a bit shaken by the incident earlier.

"You know, Jo, I don't know what the matter is with Bill," he told her. "I mean, he's wacko, he's crazy! You ought to keep a leash on him."

Jo nodded, but she wasn't too worry about Bill. "He's not my problem, he's yours." And she turned toward the counter.

Jonas blocked her route. "Oh, by the way, this storm's going to be a lot bigger than we anticipated," he informed her. "I got reports of mesos all the way from Grand County to Logan."

"You sharing information with me?" Jo asked, surprised.

Jonas shook his head. "No, I was just curious as to which way you were going to head."

"Southeast, I think…to the counter." And Jo walked over to the counter, sitting down by Melissa.

"Two lemonades to go, please," Melissa requested and the waitress wrote her order down.

Jo glanced at Jonas, who was now talking with his team. "Nothing changes."

"Pardon me?" Melissa asked.

"He's gonna wait and see what Bill does," Jo answered and then spoke to the waitress. "Can I have a coffee to go, please."

Melissa glanced over a Jonas. "That man's waiting for Billy? Why?" And her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline when Jo told her why. "So you're telling me Billy knows what a storm is thinking?"

Jo nodded. "Something like that." She popped a pice of gum into her mouth and then offered her the pack. "Gum?" Melissa shook her head, and she put it in her pocket. "My Aunt Meg used to call him a human barometer."

"Well he never really told me about all this," Melissa remarked, although now that she thought about it, it did explain why he was so good at predicting what the wether was going to do.

"If you have to pee you should do it now, 'cuz there's not many places to stop once we get on the road," Jo advised.

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" Melissa asked the blonde.

Jo was wrong-footed by the question and chose to ignore it. "Check please," she requested.

"Not that I blame you," Melissa said. "I just hope this isn't some desperate attempt to keep him in your life."

Jo picked up both checks and added a $20 to them both. "We're together." Picking up her coffee, she got up, and she walked away from the counter.

* * *

Outside, Bill was staring at the distant clouds, which were turning green, and he still had some dirt in his hand when Dusty walked up.

"Hey, man," his friend said. "What's up?"

Bill nodded to the clouds. "Goin' green."

"Greenage," Dusty agreed, grinning since they both knew that it meant that tornadoes were coming soon.

Bill nodded, it was time to go. "Saddle 'em up."

"You got it, boss," Dusty agreed and he went back to get the team.

* * *

Inside the diner, Jonas and his team were looking at computers and going over data provided by the satellites. "Charles, give me a sector scan on that cell, keep looking for upflow," he ordered. "Flanders, what are my dew points doing?"

"Dew point's up to 70, sir."

* * *

When Melissa exited the diner with two lemonades, she was surprised to see the team were getting back in their vehicles, and she went over to Bill, who was getting his coat out of the red truck. "Honey, I got you a lemonade-"

"We gotta move out," Bill interrupted. "Listen, follow us in the truck, but stay behind Dusty's van, you'll be safe back there. I gotta go with Jo. Okay, let's move out, people! Let's go!" And he ran toward the yellow truck.

"Where are we goin'?" Melissa called out, but no one had time to answer her as they were getting ready to head out. Feeling frustrated, she put the lemonades on top of the truck and got in, forgetting about them when she saw Dusty driving away and she quickly followed.

* * *

Sneaking up on her, Bill took the keys out of Jo's mouth, surprising her. "Thanks, I'll drive." And he immediately got into the driver's seat.

Blinking, Jo finished pulling on her jumpsuit and she hopped into the passenger side.

* * *

Back inside the diner, Jonas saw the team heading out, and he knew that it was time to go. "All right people, lets pack it up, let's go." He headed for the door while his team packed up their gear and followed after him. Once outside, they headed for their cars. It was time to chase after tornadoes and make history.

* * *

Out on the road, Dusty was grinning madly as he cranked up the music and sucked juice from a straw that was dangling from the ceiling.

"It's the wonder of nature, baby!" he cheered and laughed. "Wooo! Wooooooo!" And soon his music was once again blaring through the speaker on the roof. "Hey you guys! Wooohoooo!"

While the rest of them were rolling their eyes, laughing at Dusty's selection of music, or were choosing their own music to listen to, Preacher was listening to William Tell and Elle and Maxine were singing to some of their own favorite tunes. Melissa turned down the sound on the radio in order to answer her ringing cellphone. "Dr. Melissa Reeves here? Oh, oh. Yes, Donald, you've caught me in my car!"

* * *

In his van, Beltzer was singing the opening song to _Oklahoma_. " _OHKLAHOMA, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, and the wavin' wheat-_ "

* * *

Melissa shook her head, listening to her patient complain about something connected to his marriage. "Donald, this feeling of inadequacy is normal for you, Julia doesn't resent you," she reassured him. "We talked about this before. She did not marry your penis. Oh, okay, she didn't only marry your penis."

* * *

Beltzer and Haynes were now singing Oklahoma at the top of their lungs. " _HOOOOO…MAAAA…MAAAA…..OKLAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMA! YEEOOWWW_ _!_ "

* * *

In the lead truck, Jo adjusted the sound on the radio and glanced at Bill, who was focused on the road for the moment. "So…amazing coloring there, isn't it?" she asked, glancing out the window at the sky.

Bill nodded, also peering at the sky. "Yeah, look at those mammatas," he commented. "Bet those tops have got to be spiking at about 40,000."

"That's a good thing," Jo remarked.

"That's a very good thing," Bill agreed.

Jo decided to change the subject to that of Melissa, wanting to know about about the other woman. "She work at the station, is that where you met her?" she asked causally.

Bill groaned. "Jo-"

"What?" Jo asked.

Bill shook his head. "I don't want to fight."

"I'm not fighting, I'm talking," Jo protested.

"I don't want to fight," Bill insisted and they both fell silent for a few minutes.

Jo, however, couldn't stand the silence and decided to test the waters. "She's nice."

"HAH!" said Bill, annoyed.

"Uh-oh, she's not nice?" Jo asked.

Bill shook his head. "I know what you meant."

"You do?" Jo asked innocently.

Bill nodded. "Yes, so don't, don't do this."

"Okay, I'm making extremely civilized conversation here," Jo pointed out. "You're biting my head off. Jesus."

Bill sighed, knowing that she was right. "Yes. She's very nice," he agreed, doing his best to remain calm. "No, she doesn't work at the station she's, uh, she's a therapist."

"Oh," said Jo, recalling that Melissa had said she was a doctor earlier. "Yours?"

Bill thumped the steering wheel. "Christ!"

"What?" Jo asked, honestly confused this time around.

"You couldn't resist, could you? Come on!" he complained.

"I'm not saying you need therapy!" she exclaimed.

Bill shot her a look. "What?"

"I'm not-" Jo began.

" _Wait_. _I_ need therapy?" Bill demanded.

Jo shook her head. "I didn't say that."

"I need a therapist?" Bill demanded.

"I didn't say that," Jo repeated, insistently.

"What could I possibly need a therapist for?" Bill questioned.

Jo shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're the doctor, tell me," he suggested, getting hot under the collar.

"I don't know, um, in ability to finish things?" Jo suggested hesitantly.

"Finish things?" Bill repeated.

"Rushing into things you can't quite commit to-" Jo began.

"Commitment?"

"You asked me."

"Look-"

"You asked me!"

"No, that is crap!" Bill snapped. "Look, I may have walked out-"

"You asked-" Jo began.

"But at least I showed up in the first place!" he interrupted. "You never had the slightest idea-"

Jo tried to get him to calm down and focus on the road. "Okay, there's a whole road thing- coming on up here…"

"-about commitment and what being married means," Bill continued, interrupting her again. "Like stability, supportiveness, the house and all kinds of neat stuff like that-" and as he ranted, the truck started veering to the shoulder of the road, then the grass…

Jo saw this and cut off his rant with a request. "Can I drive?"

"No," Bill refused.

"Then would you?" she asked politely.

Bill looked ahead, saw that they were no longer on the road, and there was a tractor right in front of them! "Woha!" He swerved sharply back onto the road. "Damn."

Jo chuckled. "Somebody should warn her about your temper."

"Jo, I swear-" Bill began.

"She obviously has no idea what she's getting into-" she continued, ignoring him.

"Stay the hell out of it," Bill snapped, fed up.

"You know."

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"What exactly-"

"What am I doing?"

* * *

"So, how long do you think they're going to keep arguing?" Elle wondered, listening to the arguing going on in the truck ahead of them.

"No idea, but as long as they stay on the road, they can argue as long as they want to," said Maxine. When Jo's truck almost hit that tractor, they'd been alarmed.

"That's for sure," Elle agreed.

* * *

Haynes and Beltzer were having similar thoughts, especially since this wasn't the first time they'd listened to Jo and Bill fight about something over the radio. "I think they're getting better at this."

"Yeah, they are," Beltzer agreed.

* * *

However, Jo was getting fed up with always fight with Bill. "You know what?" she said, frustrated. "As long as you're happy-"

"Thank you!" Bill exclaimed. "I am happy! I'm a happy person. I'm happy with my life. I'm happy with the way things are going in my life. I happy with… with, with-"

"Melissa," Jo supplied.

"I know her name!" Bill snapped. "Yes, I'm happy with Melissa. I am!"

Jo nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Meanwhile, Beltzer was distracted from the fighting when he spotted a tornado that'd touched down minutes ago, and cursed for not spotting it sooner. "Hey, are you guys gonna wrap this up pretty soon?" he asked into the radio.

 _`"What?!"`_ Bill's voice snapped.

"Oh, nothin," Beltzer said, mildly annoyed. "I was just wonderin' if we're gonna chase this tornado, or if you just wanna catch the next one."

* * *

In the lead truck, Jo and Bill also spotted the tornado.

"Crap!" Bill cursed and felt like kicking himself for letting himself be distracted.

Jo took the microphone. "Beltzer, is it on the ground?" she asked as Bill floored the gas, and the force pushed her back in the seat. "Easy, easy, easy!" And they all turned a corner, heading for the path of the tornado.

* * *

Further back, Jonas and his team were also tracking the tornado while listening to weather reports on the radio.

"We have to bear right," he said into the radio, checking a map. "It's on an easterly course."

 _`"The national weather service has issued a tornado warning in effect until 11:00 am…"`_

Eddie, who was driving, noted the skid marks and saw Jo's team heading down a different road. "Uh, Dr. Miller?"

"Yes?" Jonas asked.

Eddie nodded to the skid marks. "I think they turned left here."

Jonas looked up from his map and saw that Eddie was right. "Do it." And his team took the same turn, following after their rivals.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jo put on a headset with a walkman attacked to her belt as she kept glancing at the tornado, which was holding a steady course, and she spoke into the mic. "We're moving to intercept guys, get ready to set up."

 _`"You got it!"`_

As they raced along, they could see the tornado speeding ahead, tearing up the countryside. Cars were passing the other way, honk their horns, and letting others know the impending danger.

"You got to get further ahead of it," Jo told Bill, hoping that they could get Dorothy in the path before the tornado disappeared.

"I know what I'm doing," Bill said, keeping track of both the road and the twister.

Jo pointed to the nearby field. "Cut across the field, Bill!"

"I know I have to get ahead of it," Bill said calmly.

Jo, however, was frantic. "You're gonna have to get into that field!"

Bill rolled his eyes. "Do you want to drive?" he asked.

"I'm just saying-" Jo began.

"Would you like to drive?" Bill repeated.

"Yes, I'd love to!" Jo replied eagerly.

 _`"Listen, it's about, 3 miles southeast, let's see what she does!"`_ Rabbit reported over the radio.

 _`"We definitely got ourselves an F2 here,"`_ Elle added, _`"but it could go up to F3 based on the increase of the speed earlier."`_

Jo pulled her eyes from the twister, which was dancing across the field, and eyed an irrigation ditch, pointing. "Go in there, go in there!"

"Just wait-" Bill began, still keeping track of the twister.

"You're gonna miss it!" Jo exclaimed.

Bill shook his head. "Hold on, hold on! Just hold on a second."

"Have you lost your nerve?" Jo asked in a taunting manner.

Bill looked at her and smiled slyly. "Tighten your seatbelt!" He grabbed her seatbelt toward him, and pulled it tighter. He then swerved the truck into the irrigation ditch, going at 80 miles per hour.

 _`"Jo, Bill, where are you? We lost visual!"`_

Bill realized that he timed his entry into the area badly and they were now stuck in the ditch, which they were bouncing through as they got closer to the twister. Ahead the ditch was becoming deeper, and the sides were slanting upward. "Are we having fun yet?" he asked.

Jo knew that they were going to be in serious trouble if they didn't get out of the ditch. "Okay, we got to get out of this."

"Really?" Bill asked sarcastically trying to find a way out of the ditch.

 _`"2 miles now, picking up speed!"`_

 _`"Still an F2! I repeat, still an F2!"`_

Jo was clinging to the seat. "Bill, sometime this week would be good!"

"I'm trying to get out!" Bill shouted, but the sides were now too steep to drive over. They were stuck.

"Are you mad?" Jo asked.

Bill shook his head. "I'll be mad later, right now I'm trying not to kill us!"

 _`"Funnel's getting thicker! It's movin' fast, coming toward you Jo!"`_

The tornado roared as it destroyed a barn off to the left, and Jo knew they were in serious trouble when it shifted its' track, but she still wanted to launch Dorothy, too. "It's starting to turn!"

"Where?" Bill asked, unable to see the tornado because of the ditch. "I can't see!"

"You will," Jo promised.

 _`"Jo, you're too close, it's not gonna work. Get outta there!"`_

Bill looked at the mirrors and saw that she was right when the twister shifted so that it was now heading toward them by way of the ditch. "Crap! I can't get out, it's too steep! This was a great idea!" he slammed on the breaks, but they continue however, to skim forward. And ahead was a low lying overpass! The truck slammed into it, and they jumped out, yelling at each other since the wind was so loud.

"See, that wasn't so bad!" Jo exclaimed, running toward the rear of the truck. "Comon', let's get her pit! Let's go!"

"Why can't we spend a normal day together?!" Bill complained, following after her.

Reaching the back of the truck, Jo lowered the tailgate and she was ready to unload Dorothy, but Bill knew that they were within seconds of getting sucked up by the tornado.

"We're in the damage path, let's go!" Bill shouted when he reached her, grabbed her arm, and soon they were running to get under the overpass. "Jo, this is crazy, common'!"

Jo struggled to break free of his grip, wanting to go back to her truck. "Let go!"

"There's no time!" Bill countered, hauling her toward the overpass, which wasn't the safest place to hide, but there wasn't any other places to hide.

Jo refused to believe that. "We can still do this!"

Bill, however, pulled her under the overpass. "Find something to grab hold of!"

"I know!" Jo shouted as they held on to the column that was holding up the overpass as the twister drew closer and closer.

Bill was hugging both the column and Jo, and he was alarmed when she slipped out of his grip and crawled towards the twister, which was only yards away. "What are you doing?!" he yelped, grabbing her arm. "What are you doing?!"

"I want to see it!" Jo shouted, trying to pull her arm free, desperate to see the twister in action.

Bill, however, wouldn't let go and worked on pulling her back to relative safety. "Come back!"

"I want to see it!" Jo screamed, fighting to break free. "Bill!"

However, Bill pulled her back under the overpass, just as the truck began to slide forward as the strong winds from the twister pushed it from behind. "Look out! Look out!" And they both turned away, clinging to the column for dear life as the twister passed over the overpass, the truck flying into the air and was gone. Moments later, the twister was gone as well, its' energy used up.

Melissa stared in shock at what she'd just witnessed. "Oh my God."

* * *

A/N: Talk about a shocking experience, huh? R&R everyone!


	4. Chapter 3: WATER SPOUTS AND COWS

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Hey, guys! So, I'm keeping this intro short since I'm going to be very busy today since it's my b-day. Yes, today's my b-day and I'm going to be out most of the day having fun.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE: WATER SPOUTS AND COWS**

" _For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water._ _"_

 _2 Peter 3:5_

Oklahoma

June 17, 1996…

Realizing that the twister was gone, Bill and Jo climbed out of the ditch, soaked with mud, and both were looking on the verge of passing out.

"It's gone," Bill gasped, hoping that he wouldn't ever get that close to a tornado for a _very_ long time. "It's gone."

"Where's my truck?" Jo asked, looking around for the missing vehicle.

Suddenly, the truck slammed into the road, narrowly missing Melissa in her truck. She screamed as she zoomed around it and hit the brakes, making the truck skid a few feet.

Jo smiled. "There it is."

Hearing the screams, Bill ran to the red truck. "Melissa?"

The rest of the team arrived by this point, got out of their vehicles, and ran over to Melissa as she got out of the truck, shaking and hyper ventilating.

"Are you okay?" Preacher asked, reaching her side and she shook her head.

"You just missed the truck!" Dusty exclaimed, laughing. "Awesome! It's awesome!"

"Dusty, calm down a little please," Elle advised. "She's shaking like a leaf."

Bill ran up at that moment, and she practically leapt into his arms. "Melissa!"

"Oh God, Billy, _Billy_!" Melissa cried, shaking badly.

"You okay?" Bill asked, hugging her.

Melissa wasn't sure how she was feeling. "Oh, God, I'm okay…"

"You sure?" Bill asked, concerned.

Dusty was still laughing and pointing to the wrecked yellow truck and the remains of Dorothy I. "Bill, she just missed the truck!"

Having, calmed down somewhat, Melissa realized that Bill was covered with mud. "God, what happened to you?" she asked.

"Nothin' honey, we're okay, we were perfectly safe," Bill reassured her.

Jo walked by, followed by Haynes and Rabbit. "Gone," she complained, furious that their first attempt was a failure.

Haynes thought they might be able to save it. "Wait a minute-"

"It's trashed," Jo predicted.

"No, just hang on a minute we'll take a look, I'll know," said Rabbit.

Jo just shook her head. "It's gone." She glanced over at Bill and Melissa, feeling a pang in her heart at how they were hugging each other. "You okay?"

"She's okay," Bill replied.

Dusty was now standing next to the flipped yellow truck, and it was clear that Dorothy was smashed. "Well, there's some good news," he joked as Jo reached him. "It did fly." And he backed up a bit as she kicked in one of the windows and began pulling her stuff out of the totaled truck. "What was it like?" he asked.

Jo looked up at Dusty. It was windy."

"Windy?" Dusty repeated, chuckling. "That's intense-"

Jo rolled her eyes and pushed him aside. "All right, move it, Dusty!"

Dusty backed away, holding up his hands. "That's intense! That's intense!"

Just then, the Black Windstars rolled up.

"Hey, the auto club's here!" Joey called out, sneering.

In the lead van, Eddie noted the situation that the rival team was in. "Maybe we should stop, see if they need some help," he suggested.

Jonas shook his head. "They're fine, pay attention to the road."

Deciding to have some fun, Dusty ran up to the' van, and jumped so that the upper half of his body was in the window. "Fashionably late again, Jonas?" he teased. "Fashionably late! Gimmie kiss, baby!" And he kissed Eddie on the cheek, getting protests from both men.

"Get out of here, Get outta here!"

Laughing triumphantly, Dusty slid out of the window and back onto the road. "Loser! Loser!"

"Why don't you find your own twister, buddy!" Rabbit called out.

"Yeah quit trying to steal ours!" Maxine shouted, mocking the black vans.

"Loser!" Dusty repeated and made a show of directing traffic. "Move on!"

While they were mocking their rivals, Beltzer gathered up the sensors and put them in a large bowl his wife was holding. "Let's go."

"Don't worry, I'll get 'em cleaned," Haynes promised. "Common' guys let's get Dorothy 2 ready."

Jo placed her backpack onto of her overturned truck, and she was now using a towel to get the mud off her face, and she was also eying the red truck. "You got full coverage on that truck?" she asked Bill, who had his arm around Melissa's shoulders, holding her close.

Bill smiled, he knew what she really wanted. "Liability only."

"Liability only?" Jo repeated, getting the worst of the mud off her face. "It's a very pretty truck."

"Thank you," said Melissa, who wasn't shaking anymore.

Bill laughed nervously, for he knew what Jo was up to. She wanted to use his truck for the chase. Jo looked at him as she threw all her stuff in her backpack. "Don't even think about it," he protested. "No way."

* * *

Three hours later, Bill was driving in the lead with Dorothy II strapped to the back, and he was annoyed that Jo had managed to convince him to let her use the truck. Jo was seated next to him and Melissa was sitting in the backseat, having refused to go home despite the incident earlier.

 _`"This is the caboose, this is the caboose!"`_ Dusty called out over the radio. _`"I'm waiting for orders, Boss!"`_

Jo and Bill both reached for the mic at the same time, and they laughed nervously when they did it a second time.

"Go ahead," Bill offered.

Jo shook her head, although she did want to grab the mic. "It's your truck."

"No, really," Bill insisted. "You should."

Smiling, Jo picked up the mic and spoke into it. "Dusty, the battle zone should be northeast of 81."

 _`"Copy that, Jo."`_

"Wait a minute. Battle zone?" Melissa asked, looking between them with a confused expression. "Billy, what're we doing?"

"We're going again," Bill answered.

"Again?" Melissa repeated, alarmed. "But back there you almost got yourself killed!"

Bill smiled and shook his head. "No, no. Just a close call."

* * *

In the RV, Rabbit was checking the maps while Sanders drove and he spoke into the mike with directions of where to go. "You're gonna cross 15 on Oklahoma

412\. 412."

* * *

In the lead truck, Jo glanced at Bill, who nodded, and she spoke into the mike. "Okay, copy that. Haynes, what's on the mesonet?" she asked.

 _`"Winds continuing to back, VIL's are at…..uh, 60,"`_ Haynes reported.

"Okay guys, let's go get it!" Jo ordered and put the mic down. She then leaned over to see the speedometer, which was at 50. She groaned and slumped back in her seat since they were going too slow Bill rolled his eyes and speeded up.

* * *

Soon enough they could see the twister in the distance and they were catching up with Jonas's team, which were heading in the same direction, turning this into a race to see who would be reaching the tornado first.

* * *

In the lead van, Jonas was using binoculars to examine the twister. "Mobile lab," he said into the mic. "Yeah, Tony, Is it me or is the main updraft shifted?"

 _`"No, all the winds are bearing, sir,"`_ Tony responded.

Jonas wasn't so sure of that. "Uh, this thing might dissipate," he warned. "Do we have enough to get in front of it?"

* * *

At the NSSL, they were also tracking the tornado and were relaying information to Jonas and his team.

"Murphy!" Bryce called out. "Rotation is increasing. Sheer is 90 knots. 50 outbound, 40 inbound."

Murphy nodded and spoke into the phone. "Yeah, yeah, we see it. We do, we see it. Very pronounced hook."

* * *

In the mobile lab, two men were imputing data into the computers and were checking for Jonas based on the data they'd just received from NSSL.

"Checking for you now, sir."

"Dr. Miller. Good southeast gusts at 40 miles per hour. Approaching 150 in the funnel."

"The storm motion is 225 degrees, coming straight out of the southwest."

Jonas was happy with that report. "We're in perfect position, let's proceed." And he did a double-take when the red pickup pulled up alongside him.

"Oh howdy," Eddie remarked. "Got to admire their spirit." And smiled sheepishly when his boss shot him a look.

Jo peered past Bill at the black van. "There's your pal," she said sarcastically.

Bill and Jonas glared at each other for a moment, and he returned his attention to the road. Bill, however, glanced at the tornado and immediately slammed on the breaks. Jonas was surprised when the red truck suddenly disappeared and he looked out the window to see where they'd gone.

"What're you doin', what're you doin'?!" Jo yelped, startled by the change of direction.

Bill was staring out the windshield. Look at the updraft, the angle," he said, nodding to the tornado. "It's gonna shift it's track."

"Are you sure?" Jo asked.

"Oh yes," Bill confirmed, nodding. "It's defiantly a sidewinder! It'll move left."

"Is that bad?" Melissa asked, worried.

Bill ignored the question. "Wasn't there a road back there?"

"You're right, go, go, go, go, go!" Jo shouted, now seeing what he was seeing.

Bill turned the truck around, driving fast, and then he turned right onto a different road and speeded ahead, their team were quick to follow suit, confused.

Melissa jumped when her phone started ringing, and she hastily answered it. "Hello?! Donald, now's not a very good time for me, okay? What…" she sighed "all right, put Julie on. Okay."

* * *

Jonas was watching a model on his laptop and he was pleased with the results. "Looking good, looking very good. All right," he said to Eddie, "about 4 miles south, hang a right, let's deploy and we'll be done!"

Just then, the tornado started to shift to the left, and Eddie noticed. "Uh, Dr. Miller…"

Jonas looked up and he immediately started cursing. "Shit, shit… it's moving away! God!"

"Look's like they're gonna intercept," Eddie added, nodding to the other team.

Jonas grabbed his binoculars and peered through them, spotting Jo's team, and then he yelled into the radio. "Damnit, Tony, I thought you said this thing was gonna stay on the same heading!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Jo was tracking the progress of the tornado, Bill was increasing the speed he was driving, and Melissa was still talking on her cellphone.

"We're close," Bill announced.

Jo nodded and spoke into the mic. "Rabbit, tell me what road we're on, where does this take us?

"I know it feels unnatural," Melissa was saying into the phone, getting Jo's attention, "but with Donald's motility, you're not gonna have this baby the old-fashioned way. Even if you stand on your head."

Jo gave Bill a funny look.

Bill flushed a little. "She's a, reproductive therapist."

Deciding to humor him, Jo spoke into the radio. "Laurence? Laurence come in, we've got to get ahead of this storm, what's on the satellite?"

Hearing this, Melissa tried to end the phone call. "I can't talk to you right now, I'll have to call you back."

 _`"Twister south, skipping south, shifting to south, we have a, F2, ladies and gentlemen, possibly F3. You with me? It's a very, very large rope on the ground. Very large. Right on the ground."`_

 _`"It looks like it's turning, it looks like it's turning. The atmosphere is very unstable! Repeat, unstable!"`_

Elle had a different report. _`"No, it's a solid one."`_

 _`"Definitely solid,"`_ Maxine confirmed.

 _`"This is Rabbit, this is Rabbit, it's at 2:00, it's headed this way!"`_

 _`"This is Sanders, this is Sanders! We're driving due east on a country road we've been on for about 6 miles. We've got an F3, 2, sitting on the ground, and she's a beauty! WHOOHOO!"`_

 _`"Jo, it's Barn Burner, it's Barn Burner! It's not gonna hang out long. It's not hanging out long!"`_

Jo spotted the twister in the distance and she spoke into the mic. "We got it, we got it, we see it!"

It was getting very dark outside, even though it was afternoon, and the rain was pounding the immediate area.

"We're getting slammed in here guys," Bill warned the team, "you better hang back."

The rest of the group slowed down a bit, while Bill, Jo, and Melissa drove on toward the tornado. Jo grabbed a camera.

"This thing loaded?" she asked.

Bill nodded. "Yeah, go for it."

Turning the camera on, Jo was about to take a picture of the tornado, when she noticed the rain on the window. "Rain bands."

"What?" Melissa looked, looking between them.

Jo pointed to the window. "Look at the surf coming off those fields."

"Shit, horizontal rain," Bill cursed. "Hang on!" He floor the gas as they approached a bridge going over a large lake. There were two water spouts (water tornadoes) on either side of the bridge, and they were sucking up water.

Jo was staring up at the stormy sky. "Jesus, Bill, I've never seen it clouded like this."

"I don't think anybody has," Bill agreed. "But, I-" he didn't finish the sentence, instead he concentrated on the road.

"Bill… we're in the core," Jo realized.

Suddenly, the water spout to the left of them split in half, turning into two water spouts.

"Okay, we've got sisters!" Bill exclaimed.

Melissa jumped when her phone started ringing. "Yes?! Julie I can't talk to you right now!"

"We're right under the flanking line," Jo pointed out since they were now facing three water spouts, and if they didn't get out of there, they were going to flipped.

"I realize that," Bill said, fully aware of the situation.

"We can't attack this thing from the south, we're gonna get rolled!" Jo exclaimed.

Bill grinned at her. "Watch me."

"Julie, I know you're upset," Melissa told her client, "you just gotta, breathe, we've both just gotta breathe!"

Suddenly, a cow flew past them.

"Cow," Jo said, staring as the cow flew out of sight, and her eyes were wide since that wasn't something one saw everyday, even with tornadoes.

"I gotta go, Julie, we got cows!" Melissa exclaimed and she hung up.

Just then, another cow flew past again.

"Another cow," said Jo, watching it go by.

"Actually, I think that was the same one," Bill corrected and shook his head at the mess they were in. "We've got drunkards here, we've got no path!"

"This is not good," Jo agreed, "get us out of here!"

"I'm trying, okay?!" Bill shouted, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Floor it!" Jo shouted, scared.

Bill floored the gas, but he realized that it wouldn't work, and he slammed on the breaks. Moments later, they were surrounded by the three water spouts, swirling around the truck like a carousel.

"Hang on!" he shouted as the truck began to slide and spin, and they were all screaming, terrified. "Honey, hang on!"

Suddenly, the three water spouts elevated back into the clouds and they were gone. For a second, all three had shocked expressions on their faces. Then Bill and Jo hopped out of the truck excited, leaving Melissa, still frozen with fear. Jo and Bill hugged and laughed.

"God! Was that incredible?!" Jo gasped.

"Did you see it? It was incredible!" Bill laughed as Jo pointed up to the clouds where the twisters had disappeared and then he remembered Melissa, who was shakily climbing out of the truck. "Oh! Oh, oh, honey!" He ran over to her and hugged her.

By this point, the team arrived in their vehicles, they got out, and ran over to check on the trio, with Dusty shouting with glee.

"Whooohooo!"

"Did you see that?!" Jo exclaimed as the team gathered around her, heading for the back of the red truck.

Bill was talking to Melissa. "It's okay, it's okay."

Melissa was shaking badly. "No, I'm not okay! This is not okay!" Her voice was cracking. "Okay?"

Bill sighed. "Aw, Christ… I'm sorry. Honey, I didn't think."

"You know when you used to tell me you chased tornadoes?" Melissa asked, crying. "Deep down, I always thought it was a metaphor!"

"Shhhh. It's okay," Bill told her, regretting that he let her stay in the truck.

"Three times a lady!" Beltzer said loudly, laughing.

"Did you see the inflow jets on these fatties?" Joey asked excitedly.

"Did you see?" Jo repeated as Beltzer helped her open the tailgate, and she climbed up into the back of truck, so she was standing by Dorothy. "I was sitting in the middle of it!" And the entire team cheered.

Well, Laurence wasn't cheering, instead he was looking rattled by the latest close call. "I was thinking, it may not be too bad of an idea, if we just got the hell out of here," he suggested. "'Cuz that was defiantly too many tornadoes back there…"

"Are you kidding?" Jo laughed. "This thing's not over, we've only seen the start of it!"

"Hey, you know what, uh, Jo, somebody couldn't help but notice how close we are to Wakita," Rabbit remarked, changing the subject.

Jo shook her head, knowing what he was hinting at. "No!"

"Yeah, and Aunt Meg wouldn't mind a pit stop, right?" Sanders asked hopefully.

"No," Jo repeated.

"Red meat, we crave sustenance!" Dusty pleaded, really wanting to see her aunt since it was a tradition.

"Guys, we are not invading my aunt!" Jo objected.

Dusty began chanting. "Food!" and the rest of the team joined in. "Food! Food! Food!"

"Hey!" Jo shouted, trying to get their attention. "We are absolutely _not_ going!"

* * *

A/N: So, do you think Jo is going to win that argument or will they be visiting her aunt? Stay tune for more at the same tornado time and the same tornado channel. R&R everyone!


	5. Chapter 4: WILD STORIES AND THE HIDDEN T

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Hi, I'm here with the next chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR: WILD STORIES AND THE HIDDEN TWISTER**

" _The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest_ _._ _"_

 _Isaiah 34:14_

Wakita, Oklahoma

June 17, 1996…

Two hours later, the team pulled up next to a two-story white house with a front yard wind chimes and sculptures, all ringing beautifully. Meg was in a nearby shed, where she was telling a welder how she wanted her newest project to look.

"There's the spot," she told the welder, pointing to a spot. "Just do it." She looked up, surprised, when she saw Jo and the team getting out of their vehicles, and she grinned when she saw Bill. "Billy!"

"Meg!" Bill waved to her as he helped Melissa out of the truck. "Come on, honey!" He hurried her across the yard and he hugged Meg. "Meg, how are you?!"

Meg smiled wildly. "Oh, it is so good to see you!"

"Good to see you too," Bill agreed.

"Day before yesterday, I was telling Jo," Meg informed him, "how much I miss you! You haven't seen any of my new work!" She then hugged her niece when she reached them. "Jo! Oh honey!" She kissed her cheek. "Seen some action?"

Jo grinned. "You should have seen it."

"Hi, Meg," said Elle and Maxine at the same time, and they exchanged hugs.

Dusty ran up just then, with the others right behind him. "Meg!"

"Hey, Boys!" Meg exclaimed as they gathered around, and did a group hug.

* * *

Barely an hour later, the team were in the house, where Meg and Jo were busy cooking up steaks and eggs in the kitchen, and the others were either seated at the table or in chairs and couches in the living room, eating, chatting, and watching the news on the TV.

"No, in a severe lightning storm you want to grab your ankles and stick your butt up in the air," Rabbit advised between bites of steak.

"He's right," Haynes agreed, "if you're gonna get hit, it's the safest orifice."

"Yeah, I'd like to get hit by lightning once," said Joey, grabbing a roll. "Ya know, see what it's like."

Sanders poured himself lemonade, and he tasted it. "Hey, this is real lemonade. Hey, Meg, I'm movin' in here!" he called out into the kitchen.

Elle chuckled as she grabbed the pitcher to pour some for herself and her sister. "You say that every time, Sanders."

"But it _is_ good lemonade," Maxine added.

Jo walked out of the kitchen with a tray of beef. "You guys, look out, make a space," she ordered and Laurence moved to a nearby chair, and put down a clean plate for Melissa, who sat down with an uncertain expression. "Look out, look out, look out." Jo plopped a huge chunk of beef on Melissa's plate. Melissa looked at it, almost disgusted.

Rabbit was surprised by the amount of beef that they were being served. "God, Meg, you've got a lot of beef," he remarked when Meg came over to put eggs on their plates. "Where'd you get all this beef?"

"Did you see my cows out front?" Meg asked with a sly smile.

Rabbit shook his head. "No."

Meg made a gasping face that made them all laugh. "Ohhhh!"

"Ohh," said Rabbit, figuring out what she meant. "Cool."

"You slaughter your own cows, Meg!" Dusty complimented. "Nice." And when Jo plopped down a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, he scooped some up and put a glob of mashed potatoes on Melissa's plate. "Potatoes?"

"Better grab some while you can," Jo advised as she walked past.

"Meg's gravy is famous," Dusty told Melissa. "It's practically a food group." And he poured a ton of gravy on her potatoes.

Melissa sat there, not knowing what to say, and she shook her head when Laurence offered her a roll.

Bill entered the dining area, having been upstairs for a much-needed shower, and he was now wearing clean clothes. "Shower's free."

"I'm next!" said Jo, popping open a can of Pepsi.

Bill almost walked into her. "Oops." He side-stepped her and was soon face-to-face with Meg, who offered him a plate of food. "Oh, I want that."

Grabbing her own plate of food, Jo peered into the living room and she made a face when Jonas appeared on the TV, being interviewed. "How can you watch this garbage?"

Hearing her, Bill set his plate down on the table, where the guys had moved a bit to give him a seat. "Oh, pardon me gentlemen," he said, going to the TV. "You guys gotta see this." And he cranked the volume up so they all could hear.

"Careful, buddy," Laurence called out to the reporter doing the interview, "he'll steal your microphone." And the others all booed in agreement.

 _`"Well for me, it's the thrill of the hunt,"`_ Jonas was saying and soon enough, everyone was booing. _`"Man vs. nature. Having battle with the elements."`_

 _`"So as a scientist, can you actually predict tornadoes now?"`_ the reporter inquired.

 _`"Well, no, they are very, very unpredictable,"`_ Jonas admitted with a smirk, _`"as some of my more unfortunate colleagues found out earlier today-"`_

Haynes rolled her eyes. "Oh, turn him off."

"Please change the channel, guys," Elle pleaded. "Listening to that jerk is ruinin' my meal."

"Yeah, turn it off," Maxine pleaded.

 _`"But we hope to change all that with a system I have devised,"`_ Jonas concluded.

"God, he sucks," Dusty grumbled.

Rabbit threw a waddled napkin at the TV screen. "Aw, shut up."

"Booo!" Joey called out.

"Turn him off," Rabbit grumbled.

Bill turned the sound back down on the TV. "What a wiener."

"He really is in love with himself," Jo complained, picking up her soda. "I thought it was just a summer thing." And she gulped it down.

"He's gonna rue the day," Dusty predicted as Bill sat down across from him. "Dude, he's gonna rue the day he came The Extreme, baby."

"Here, here," Laurence agreed.

"Amen to that," Elle and Maxine both agreed.

Dusty grinned. "I'm talking immanent rueage. Immanent rueage."

"I was just wonderin' why do you call Billy "The Extreme"?" Melissa inquired, having heard the nickname several times now.

"Cuz' Billy is the extreme," Dusty replied and the team laughed, except for Melissa, who was confused.

"Bill is the most out of control son of a bitch in the game!" Preacher declared, heading to the kitchen to get more food.

Bill shook his head and glanced at Jo. "No, I think I came in second."

"Well I've seen The Extreme in high gear," Dusty remarked.

Jo shook her head as she reached passed him to grab a small pitcher of cream for her coffee. "You guys need to get some new stories," she stated, pouring some into her cup. "I'm gonna go clean up." She put the cream down, retrieved her backpack, and she headed upstairs to take a shower.

"So we get this one near Dalton-" Dusty began, grinning widely.

"Oh, God," Bill groaned, realizing what story was about to be told, and the team laughed, enjoying the sight of his face turning red.

"We're _way_ too close, and Jo got the bid on it, she's filmin' it, right," Dusty continued. "And all the sudden, out of nowhere, this shity looking valiant, comes pulling up, right in the way."

"She starts yellin'," said Beltzer, leaning over Melissa's shoulder. "And this _loser_ , stumbles out of the car, he's got like, a bottle of Jack Daniel's in his hand. He's naked-"

"He's _butt_ naked," Rabbit agreed.

Beltzer nodded. "Naked.

" _Not_ naked," Bill protested, and the team laughed. "I was _not_ naked!"

"He's without apparel," said Beltzer, grinning.

"Half naked," Bill amended.

"Naked," Dusty confirmed before going on with the story. "So, Jo is yelling at him to get out of the way, right." The team laughed again. "He just- He strolls up to the twister, and he says "Have a drink." And he _chucks_ the bottle into the twister, and it _never_ hits the ground!"

Beltzer nodded. "Twister caught it, and sucked it right up."

Bill noted the perplex expression on Melissa's face. "Honey, this is a tissue of lies," he told her seriously. "See there was another Bill, an evil Bill – and I killed him!" And the team laughed and cheered while Melissa smiled nervously.

* * *

In the upstairs bedroom, Jo undressed and stepped into the shower, where she turned on the hot water and began cleaning herself off while the talking and laughter continued downstairs. _'I wish it could be like this all the time,'_ she thought, listening to Bill's familiar laugher.

* * *

Back downstairs, the team calmed down after almost splitting their sides from laughing so hard, and went back to their food while still talking about tornadoes.

"No, that was a good size twister, what was that, an F3?" Preacher asked, sipping his coffee.

"Solid F2," said Bill.

Melissa had no idea what that meant and said so. "See now you've lost me again."

"It's the Fujita scale," Bill explained. "It measures the intensity of a tornado by how much it "eats"."

"Eats?" Melissa repeated.

"Destroys," Bill amended.

"The little encounter we had back there was a strong F2, F3 maybe," Laurence added.

"And out on the lake, those were water spouts and they're mostly harmless, unless you're a fish," Elle added.

"Although seeing three at once was a first," Maxine remarked, and there was general agreement on that.

"Bet we see some F4's today," Beltzer predicted.

"That'd be sweet!" said Haynes with a smile.

Bill nodded approvingly. "4 is good, 4'll re-locate your house fairly officially."

"Is there an F5?" Melissa asked, her interest becoming confusion when they all suddenly grew silent. "What would that be like?"

"The finger of God," Preacher answered after a few seconds, and his expression was almost reverent.

Melissa looked at each of them, noting that they all had similar expressions, even Meg had the reverent expression on her face. "None of you have ever seen an F5?" she asked.

"Just one of us," Bill answered and he looked up a the ceiling where Jo was.

* * *

After drying off and dressing herself in a white tank top and tan slacks, Jo was putting on her necklace and running her fingers through her hair when Meg entered the bedroom.

"Forget it," she told her niece. "Doesn't matter what you do, you'll still be beautiful."

Jo smiled at her aunt's reflection in the mirror. "You're biased."

"Yes, I am," Meg agreed. "Sounds like old times down there," she added.

Jo nodded. "Yes, it does."

Meg looked at her niece thoughtfully. "He didn't keep his part of the bargain."

"Which part?" Jo asked, looking at her aunt and figured that she was talking about Bill.

"To spend his life pining for you, and die miserable and alone," Meg answered.

Jo sighed, her expression turning sad. "That so much to ask?" she wondered.

"I don't know," her aunt admitted, shrugging. "Bill always went his own way, which was usually the same way you were going."

"Seems like a long time ago," Jo remarked with a wistful expression on her face.

"Not so long, Jo," Meg corrected her niece. "He's here, isn't he?"

Jo nodded as she watched the wind sculptures outside. "That is so beautiful." After her father had been killed by the F5 twister, she and her mom had moved in with her aunt, and a few weeks later, her mother had abandoned her, stating that she couldn't live in the same town that her husband was buried in. She hadn't seen her mother since and given all that happen, she didn't really mind either.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dusty was in the living room and was listening to the weather reports for anything that could hint at another tornado, and he was in luck.

 _`"Well, I think we have a serious weather situation-"`_

"We got one, baby!" he cheered. "F3! A mile outside Parlaine!" And soon he and the team were gathering up whatever they had brought into the house, preparing to head out.

 _`"…city of Wakita, this is a storm that has developed in the past 15 minutes. First – Alert Doppler radar shows that this is a very intense storm-"`_ was the report coming from the TV, where Jonas and his team were running for their black vans, having received word of the same tornado sighting.

The team hurried out of the house, heading for the vehicles and Bill was talking to Melissa, wanting to make sure that she would be safer then she had been last time.

"You ride along with Dusty, okay, is that cool?" he asked her as they reached the bottom of the porch.

Melissa nodded. "Okay."

"What's the word from NSSL?" Dusty was asking as he put his ball cap on while Meg descended the steps with a large brown paper bag that she was putting several foiled packages in.

"Word is big!" Haynes announced, excited.

Bill nodded. "All right, let's go, people!" he ordered.

"You know where Jonas is?" Jo asked Rabbit.

"Yeah, he's still in Milston, 30 miles from it," Rabbit answered, having been checking the maps.

Jo nodded, hoping that they could beat the jerk and get Dorothy II up in the air. "Let's all get movin'! Can we beat him?"

"I'm working on it," Rabbit promised.

Meg hugged and kissed her niece's cheek. "Thanks for stopping by."

"I'm sorry to eat and run," Jo apologized, although it did tend to happen with every tornado season for the past five years or so.

Meg smiled understandingly. "It's what you live for," she said as her niece hurried away.

Bill reached Meg, and paused long enough to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Bye."

"Good to see you, Bill," Meg called after him.

Melissa hesitated. "Honey, I-"

"It's okay, it's okay," Bill promised her as he ran after Jo, who was already halfway to the red truck.

Dusty walked up to Meg and Melissa. "Tasty cow, Aunt Meg?" he asked hopefully, his eyes were fixed on the paper bag.

Meg grinned and handed him the bag of food. "It's for you, Dusty!"

"Thank you, sweetheart," Dusty replied, delighted as he hugged Meg, and then he hugged Melissa. "You and me, right?" he asked as the others got into their vehicles.

Melissa, feeling repulsed, hide it and nodded. "Yes."

Dusty was pleased. "Sweet, sweet." And he went to get into the bus with his food bag.

Melissa paused to offer her hand to Meg. "Well, I- it was a pleasure meeting you."

"Likewise," Meg agreed, shaking her hand and nodded to the waiting bus. "You'd better run!" And she gently nudged Melissa toward the bus.

Jo reached the truck and turned to Bill when he joined her, holding out her hand. "Keys?"

"Please," said Bill, handing her the keys, which she snatched up as she climbed into the truck. "You're welcome!"

Soon, everyone was in their respective vehicles, and they had the motors running.

Jo buckled herself in and spoke into the mic. "Rabbit?"

"Hang on!" said Rabbit as he pulled out a road Atlas and looked it over for a route. "Uh, let's go right through Wakita, we'll take Myers Road past the fire station, and we'll take 132 to 44 east."

"Ok let's go," said Bill into the radio. "Rabbit, do you know any shortcuts, let us know, we need every second!"

* * *

It wasn't long before the team were driving through the town and they were soon on Myers Road.

"Okay, Rabbit, time to impress me!" Bill ordered.

 _`"_ _Okay, about a mile up there's a little detour we're gonna take, a little walk in the woods!"`_ Rabbit answered and soon they were turning a winding dirt road, and through a thicket.

Bill grunted as they drove over a bumpy road that also had dips in it. "Hey, it's bumpy here, folks!" he reported and then turned his attention to Jo. "Okay, let's get you wired." He went to work, putting a wireless mic. Head-set on her, and clipping the receiver on her belt. "Oh, excuse me," he muttered, unaware that she was enjoying every moment of it. "Okay, you're on!"

* * *

Further back, Haynes and Beltzer were whooping it upas their van soared over the bumps in the road. "Whooooohooo!"

Grinning, Beltzer called out to the team over the radio. "See, kids? An ordinary person spends his life avoiding tense situations!"

 _`"Repo man spends his life getting_ into _tense situations, Beltzer! Wooo!"`_ Dusty called back.

* * *

In the lead truck, Bill rolled his eyes at their antics and spoke into the radio. "Okay, Rabbit, what have you got?"

 _`"Okay, Bill, turn left here toward that farm,"`_ Rabbit instructed when a farm came into view.

"You sure about that?" Bill asked skeptically as Jo made the turn into a corn field of all places.

 _`"Uh, yeah. Trust me,"`_ Rabbit said reassuringly. _`"Rabbit is good, Rabbit is wise."`_

Now both Jo and Bill were rolling their eyes. "Mother of God…"

"Jesus Christ," Bill grumbled. "This is a field, Rabbit!"

 _`"I know, keep going, beyond it, right through that brush! You see that brush right in front of you?"`_

"Yeah, we see the brush, what's beyond that?" Bill asked.

 _`"Beyond what?"`_ Rabbit asked innocently.

"Beyond what?!" Jo repeated, becoming annoyed.

Bill was frustrated. "The _brush_!" he shouted into the mic. "A brick wall, a bearded lady, what?"

 _`"Oh, um, it's the highway, it's the highway!"`_ Rabbit responded when the rest of the team also yelled at him for a location.

Jo was becoming frustrated when she threw her sunglasses on the dashboard, and picked up the CB mic. "Where's the road Rabbit?!"

* * *

In the RV, Sanders was wondering the same thing. "Yeah, where's the road, man?"

Rabbit wouldn't admit it, but he was worried that they'd missed the road, and peered at the brush. "It should be any moment-" he began when, suddenly, the caravan of cars spewed right onto the highway, loud honking, just as Jonas' group passed by!

" _Hell-o!_ " Preacher exclaimed sarcastically.

* * *

"She's insane," Jonas grumbled, pissed at the near hit and snatched up the mic. "You're insane Jo!" he yelled into it. "What are you trying to do, get somebody killed?!"

* * *

Pissed, Jo snatched up the mic. "Oh, really Jonas?" she asked sarcastically. "It was _so_ nice of you to stop back there and make sure we were all right!" she yelled and Bill wrestled the mic away. "It was very considerate of you! How could you see twelve people on the side of the road and not _stop?!_ "

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!" Bill shouted, finally prying the mic out of her hands. "Keep the channel clear."

"Dirtbag," Jo grumbled, focusing on the road.

* * *

A few hours later, the sky was darkening very quickly, which mean that the team, which was now ahead of Jonas' team, were getting close to the tornado. Bill was watching the thunderstorm and his forehead was furrowed, for there was something about this that wasn't right, and he was certain that they need to go down a different road.

"We're gonna have to get off of this road," he announced.

Jo glanced at him, confused. "What? This is no time to guess-" she began.

"I'm not guessing," Bill interrupted, still looking at the sky. "Just make a right turn. Trust me."

"Do you want to drive?" Jo asked, annoyed.

"Just turn!" Bill snapped and she turned sharply onto a dirt road, the crew following.

* * *

Further back, Eddie saw them make the turn and he glanced questioningly at his boss. "Do we follow?"

Jonas glanced up from his laptop and shook his head, choosing not to chase after the other team. "We do not." And his team drove on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sanders was trying to make sense of the sudden change of direction and he glanced at Rabbit.

"What's he doin', man?" he wondered.

"I dunno," Rabbit admitted, pulling out a road map. "Find this road," he said sarcastically, "it's like, "Bob's Road"!" And they both laughed.

* * *

Joey was checking his laptop when it started beeping, and he saw that they had a tornado. "We've got a touchdown!"

"We got a touchdown, touchdown, tornado is on the ground," Laurence confirmed, speaking into the radio.

* * *

"Do you see it, Elle?" Maxine asked, peering out the window as she drove and her sister. "I don't see it."

Elle checked her own laptop and then looked out the windows until she saw it. "There! We've got a definite F3!"

* * *

Jo looked round, but she couldn't see the tornado. "Where is it?" she asked into the mic.

 _`"Looks like it's coming down route 33!"`_ Laurence answered.

"Jo, we're on 33!" Bill exclaimed, still looking for the twister that their team could see, but they couldn't see it… yet.

' _Not good,'_ Jo thought as she spoke into the radio. "What's the path?"

 _`"It's going about 35 miles an hour,"`_ Joey answered.

* * *

Sanders and Rabbit were listening to radio, and they were looking out the windshield.

"Can you see this?" Rabbit asked, confused.

"I cannot see this," Sanders replied, wondering if they were being pranked. "Where is it? Hel-lo?!"

Rabbit spoke into the radio. "Where you guys lookin'?"

* * *

Bill and Jo were still looking for the tornado, but they couldn't see it, much less hear it save for the thunder from the storm overhead. "Where, where, where?"

"Direction, Rabbit!" Jo shouted into the radio and got a response.

 _`"North, northeast."`_

Bill looked in that direction, but saw nothing except storm clouds and a large hill. "Do you see it?"

Jo shook her head. "No."

"Do you got any thing up there?" Bill asked into the radio, still trying to spot the tornado, and he was praying that it wasn't a jumper, 'cause if it was, they were going to be screwed.

 _`"North, northeast, you copy?"`_

"Shit, it's commin' right at us," Bill realized, which was way they couldn't see the darn thing yet.

 _`"Actually, she's gone vertical, gone vertical,"`_ Laurence reported. _`"This sucker's really gainin' strength."`_

"D'you see it?" Jo asked, her anxiety was spiking.

"No. I can't," Bill grumbled and shouted into the radio. "Beltzer, Elle, Max, we don't have a visual. Repeat, we do not have a visual! Help us out, here!"

"Where is it?" Jo wondered.

 _`"Stay on your course, guys, you should see it pretty soon,"`_ Elle promised.

 _`"Yeah, I got it Billy,"`_ Beltzer added. _`"It's the best motion I've ever seen! It's like the base of this fatty is about half a mile wide."`_

Bill was wishing that he could see the tornado already. "Rabbit?"

 _`"If you're goin' east on 7, it should be commin' right over that hill in a matter of minutes!"`_ Rabbit answered proudly.

 _`"This is the one, man. I feel it."`_

Bill kept searching the horizon. "It's gotta be there."

"Maybe it's stalled," Jo suggested, since there's been times when tornados would stall in a single spot for up to a full minute.

"No, I think Rabbit's right," Bill said as they got closer to the hill. "It's gonna show it's ugly face right over that hill. Jo, what do you think?"

 _`"You gonna go for it, Jo?"`_ Dusty asked over the radio.

Bill looked at her. "Jo?"

Jo nodded and grabbed the mic. "Time for deployment, guys, let's do it!" she announced.

* * *

In the bus, Dusty was thrilled to hear those words, and he grinned at Melissa, who was starting to question their sanity. "Oh man, this is the fun part, sweetheart!"

* * *

Soon enough, Jo's crew stopped to set up, while Bill and Jo kept going, and it began to hail.

"Okay, we got hail," Bill announced as the pieces of ice bounced off the truck.

"Hail," Jo said into the mic. "We got hail."

* * *

A/N: And that's it for now. R&R everyone!


	6. Chapter 5: NIGHT OF THE TWISTER

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Here's the next chapter and I hope everyone had a happy Halloween.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER FIVE: NIGHT OF THE TWISTER**

" _Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word_ _._ _"_

 _Psalms 119:55_

Oklahoma

June 17, 1996…

While the team was busy protecting themselves from the hail and setting up their equipment, Bill and Jo were still driving toward the hill that was hiding the tornado from them, and they were keeping an eye on the storm itself.

"Upflow, Beltzer, we have upflow, copy?!" Jo shouted into the radio.

 _`"Yeah, Jo, I'm checkin' it, I'm checkin' it, she's almost up!"`_

Jo nodded and looked at Bill. "Bill, right now, this is it."

Bill nodded. "I'll get her ready." He slid open the back window, and crawled through it. The hail was soon pounding him, and hurting him. " _OW!_ "

* * *

Meanwhile, the team was set up and they were monitoring the tornado while keeping tabs on the red pickup at the same time.

"Do you see him?" Dusty called out to Beltzer, who had his laptop set up on the front seat of the bus. "Do you see him?!"

"What?!" Beltzer called back, having troubles hearing over the storm.

"The red truck going right towards the core!" Dusty shouted.

Beltzer shook his head. "No!"

Melissa, who was clinging to a colorful umbrella and had been trying to get Dusty to cover his head with a plastic cover, panicked when she heard that. "He's not talking about Billy is he?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Bill was busy turning everything on that was needed to make it possible for Dorothy to work, having covered himself with his coat. Jo glanced at him and slowed down a little to make sure that he was all right since hail was still falling from the sky.

"Are you ok?" she called out to him.

"I'm alright, keep going!" Bill responded, despite the fact that he had a cut on his hand from being hit with a piece of ice earlier.

Jo nodded and speeded back up while Bill flipped a switch that started the red lights flashing and the sirens going strong.

* * *

Dusty was able to locate the red truck with his video camera. "Hey, Belzer, we got a view!"

"A real _good_ view," Elle confirmed from on top of the van, peering through the finder of her own video camera. "Dorothy is active."

"And I'm getting excellent readings," Maxine confirmed.

"Yeah, I can see it!" Beltzer agreed, goggles covering his eyes as he faced the team. "All right, I got it! That's no moon, it's a space station! Whoooo!" And they laughed at the Star Wars reference. Melissa was the only one not laughing and she was now certain that they were all insane.

* * *

On the road, Bill was finishing prepping Dorothy II and Jo was concentrating on the road when they were suddenly attacked by stuff that'd been sucked up by the still-hidden tornado. "Debris! We have debris!"

Bill yelped when some of the debris hit him in the back. "Ow!" Ignoring the pain, he worked on getting to get a strap lose. "Come on, Come on!" And after a few seconds, he got it loose. "Okay!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Dusty was keeping tabs on the couple with his video camera and he was excited. "They're in the birdcage!" he reported, whooping it up. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" He then tried to get Melissa to watch through the video camera. "Melissa, look at this! Take a peek! You can really feel it with a telephoto lens!"

"No!" Melissa shouted, furious at them all for putting her future husband and their boss into a dangerous situation like this.

"Oh, common' what's the matter?!" Dusty asked loudly to be heard over the storm.

"You people are all crazy, do you know that?!" Melissa shrieked.

Dusty didn't know what she meant. "What?!"

 _`"Dusty, are you set up?"`_ Jo's voice asked over the radio. _`"We're not leaving 'till we get this!"`_

"She's the craziest one of them all!" Melissa added angrily, determined to have some stern words with the blonde if they did get out of this alive.

* * *

Back on the road, Bill was finishing up on getting Dorothy ready. "Okay, she's almost ready!"

"Hold on, we're almost there, we're almost there!" Jo replied and gasped when a fishing boat went flying past.

"Whoa!" Bill exclaimed, watching as it flew out of sight since that'd been a close one. "Stop, this is fine!"

Jo shook her head. "Wait, we got to get closer, just a little closer!"

"Stop, Jo!" Bill yelled.

Just then, a tricycle rammed into the windshield, cracking it, and Jo was left startled. "Okay, that's close enough!" And she stopped the truck, causing Bill to slam his head on the roof of the cab.

"Ow, crap!" Bill cursed as Jo got out and ran around to the back of the truck, getting ready to pull Dorothy onto the road, and the tornado was now coming into view. "Okay, hurry, get the tailgate!"

"You got it?!" Jo shouted over the noise of both the storm and the advancing tornado.

Bill removed the last strap holding Dorothy in place. "Yeah, she's all set, help me get her down! Hurry! Let's move!" And he worked on pushing the device from behind when there was an explosion by the funnel base as it collided with a power transformer.

"Bill, hurry!" Jo screamed, tugging on Dorothy.

Bill kept trying to get Dorothy out of the truck, but he was unsuccessful. "Damn!" he cursed, jumping down. "We gotta go now, common'!" And he started pulling the blonde away from the truck.

Jo tried to fight him off so that she could get back to the truck. "We can do this!" she shouted. "Common', common!" Suddenly a telephone pole fell on Dorothy, knocking her onto the road, and the sensors went spilling everywhere. "Bill!"

Bill saw that the other telephone poles were being yanked down by the tornado. "Get down, look out!" he shouted, pulling her away. "Common'! Hurry!" And Jo screamed as Dorothy was knocked to the ground. Suddenly, the tornado was gone. "Where – where'd it go? Where is it?!"

* * *

The rest of the team were perplex, too, when the tornado dissipated, disappearing from their displays, and to have it happen so quickly was confusing.

Beltz punched the buttons on the keyboards of his laptop in frustration for a few seconds. "What's going on?! Aw, aw, I don't believe this! What the hell?!" And he turned from the laptop to look up at the sky, ripping off his goggles in the process.

"Where did the twister go?" Maxine wondered.

"No idea, only that it's gone," said Elle, agreeing with their confusion since this wasn't normal for a tornado.

Sanders looked over at Beltzer. "What's the Doppler say?" he asked.

Sighing, Beltzer went back to the laptop to check. "I, I-"

Preacher was looking up at the sky, and he was listening since it'd gone quiet at the same time that the tornado disappeared. "The cone is silent." And then there was distant thunder.

Frustrated, Beltzer spoke into the radio. "Jo, Bill, it's over! The thing was stable, and – and - and then, then it's gone."

* * *

On the road, however, Jo and Bill could hear the roar of the tornado, even though they couldn't see it, and they knew that it meant only one thing… it was coming back!

"It's back Bill!" Jo exclaimed, staring at the stormy sky.

"It's not through yet!" Bill agreed. "You're right it's back-building! We've got a jumper here!"

Jo quickly spoke into the radio. "Beltzer, it's back-building, we've got to track it!"

 _`"_ _Yeah, Jo, we know,"`_ Beltzer confirmed, having just gotten readings from the Doppler. _`"Data's incomplete, I think you should get out of there, You copy?"`_

Jo bent down and she started grabbing the sensors, trying to gather them in her jacket. "Bill, help. Bill, Help me!"

Bill knew that they didn't have time. "Jo, we should leave!" And he grabbed her arm, trying to get her to safety.

Jo fought to break free of his grip, trying to get to the sensors. "No, no, no. Help me. Help me!"

"Forget the sensors we've got to get out of here now!" Bill yelled, struggling to keep his grip on her arm, which wasn't easy since it was clear that she'd been working out since the last time he'd seen her. "It's gonna drop!"

"Beltzer will see!" Jo snapped. "If it drops, if it's anywhere near us, it will kill us!"

"It's not gonna drop anywhere near us, it's gonna drop right on us!" Bill yelled back, dragging her toward the truck.

Jo tried to grab the sensors as they headed for the truck, but he wasn't giving her a chance. "Bill, turn this- wait, wait, wait! No, Bill!" she shouted as he shoved her into the truck, and he climbed in. Soon they were reversing back down the road. "No, no, no, no, no! Go back!"

"Forget it, Jo, forget it!" he snapped, knowing that there wasn't time.

"Go back, it's not too late!" Jo screamed as he started to drive away. "Go back!"

Bill shook his head. "Forget it, it's too late!" And he stopped the truck when it started raining and the tornado didn't return, which meant that it was over… for now.

Jo jumped out of the car, and bending down to the ground, began picking up the sensors. "Help me! Help me!"

"What are you doing?!" Bill yelped, getting out of the truck and running after her.

Jo kept trying to gather up the scattered sensors. "Help me!"

Bill sighed, stopping and watching her. "Jo, the pack's wasted, it's over!"

Jo whirled to face him, her face red with rage, tears mingling with the rain running down her face. "What's the matter with you?! We can still do this!"

"Jesus Christ, listen to yourself, you're obsessed!" Bill shouted, frustrated that she was acting like this.

"You've never seen what that thing can do," Jo snarled, dropping the sensors and advancing toward him, "so don't even talk to me about-"

Bill pointed in the direction of where the tornado had been earlier. "I just saw it-"

"You've never seen it miss this house," Jo hissed, shoving him back a little, and she was beyond reason at the moment, "and miss that house, and come after you!"

Bill stared at her, realizing for the first time why she keep putting herself in danger, and why this was so important to her. "Christ, Jo, is that what you think it did?!" he demanded, and both were unaware that the team was hearing every word being spoken, and that Melissa could hear them, too.

Jo turned away, annoyed with Bill. "I don't know," she admitted, walking away.

Bill ran after her. "Jesus, Jo, why can't you just forget it?" he asked.

Jo stopped and turned back to him. "You don't understand, okay?" she asked, feeling drained after all the failures. "You'll never know."

"When's it gonna be enough, huh?" Bill asked, staring at her intensely. "How close do you have to get-" and when she tried walking away, he grabbed her and turned her around. "Talk to me!" he snapped. "Jo, things go wrong, you can't explain it, you can't predict it! Killing yourself won't bring your dad back. I'm sorry he died, but it was a long time ago. You gotta move on. Stop living in the past and look at what you've got right in front of you!"

"What are you saying?" Jo asked, finally looking at him.

"Me, Jo," Bill answered, his voice cracking slightly. " _Me_."

* * *

The rest of the team exchanged looks, several of them glancing at Melissa, who'd heard everything and was clearly upset, and they went to work on packing up their gear until it was time to chase after the next tornado. Once they were all packed up, they drove to where Jo and Bill were, retrieved the sensors, some of which were going to have to be repaired, and then they drove off to find a place to spend the night as the sun started to set.

* * *

Over at the NSSL, the staff was exhausted, but they knew that they hadn't seen the last of the tornadoes, and many of them were eating take out while monitoring the progress of the storm cells, while others were taking some much-needed naps before going back into the deep end to deal with the next round of tornadoes.

Murphy was watching one of the monitors and her eyes widened with shock at what she was seeing. "Hey, Bryce!" she called out.

"What?" Bryce called back from where he was pouring himself another cup of coffee, having lost count after about the hundredth cup.

Murphy waved him over. "You'd better get over here, take a look at this."

Bryce joined her and looked at the radar. "The gate – the gate velocities are maxed out," he said, his heart dropping into his stomach, "If those two cells converge-"

Murphy nodded. "Inbounds and outbounds have doubled." And they looked at each other, worried.

* * *

Night had fallen over the county and a thunder storm was rumbling above the drive-in that the team were going to spend the night in the motel while on the big outdoor screen, Stephen King's _The Shining_ was playing, and currently Tommy was riding around on his tricycle and was face-to-face with the creepy twin girls.

* * *

While the team was checking the weather reports for tornado sightings, Melissa was in one of the motel rooms, having switched a white shirt and jeans, and she plopped on the bed while the TV was talking about the latest weather report. She started playing with her engagement ring and was ponder whether she should go through with the wedding with Bill or not.

On the way to the motel, she'd chosen to ride with the Martin sisters, and through them, she learned of how an F5 tornado had been responsible for the death of Jo's father when she'd been a little girl, and her mother had abandoned her, so Meg was the only that Jo had left outside of the team. _'Bill still loves her,'_ she thought, mulling it over. _'He tells me that he doesn't, but after today, I wonder…'_

* * *

Outside, Jo went up to the snack bar and peered through the slot to speak to the employees. "Excuse me, can I have 8 coffees and two hot chocolates to go, please?" she requested.

One of the employees looked at her, surprised to hear an order for eight coffees. "Eight and two?"

Jo nodded. "Yeah." She grabbed a pen that was sitting on a trey, and she sat down at a table. Taking out the divorce papers, she signed the last page, with a heavy heart, for she knew that her day was up and the odds of Dorothy ever flying weren't looking good. She went back to the counter to return the pen when Bill walked up to the counter.

"Two coffees, please," he requested of the employee when she brought Jo's order. "Long day," he remarked.

Jo nodded, adding sugar and cream to some of the coffees. "Uh- huh."

"You know, I've been thinking about the sensors," Bill said, thinking back to the tornado incident earlier. "The way they scattered out there today on the highway. I'm starting to wonder if the funnel will carry them like we thought."

"Too light?" Jo suggested, having been wondering the same thing.

Bill sighed. "I don't know, maybe the whole thing's too light," he admitted.

"What can we do about that?" Jo wondered.

Bill shrugged, having been wracking his idea for an idea. "I'm not sure."

* * *

Back in the motel room, Melissa was lying on the bed, looking at her ring, and at that moment, the screen turned to static. Grabbing the remote, she turned the TV off and it was then that she noticed that it was unusually quiet outside, save for the movie playing nearby.

* * *

At the counter, the employee brought over two coffees. "Thank you," Bill said and he turned to go when the TV screen went to static, and he turned back to it, frowning since he knew that was _never_ a good sign. "Jo…"

Glancing up, Jo stares at the TV, and then they turned to look at the stormy sky, for something was coming, something bad.

* * *

Still in the motel room, Melissa was feeling uneasy as she watched the window curtains billow gently. She finally got off the bed and she went, staring at the sky.

* * *

The wind was softly howling howling now and, as one, Jo and Bill moved away from the counter, their coffee and hot chocolate forgotten as they looked in the direction of the movie screen. The wind was grows louder, and there was a low rumble.

* * *

At the bus, Dusty was watching the Doppler radar, and he felt his heart sink into his stomach as he stared with growing horror of what was heading their way. "Jesus, it's coming," he gasped, dropping the papers he'd been looking at. He jumped out of the bus and he starting running toward Jo and Bill, screaming. "Jo! Bill! It's coming! It's headed right for us!"

Bill shook his head, having just realized the same thing. "It's already here. Everybody underground now!" he ordered, running back toward the repair shop, where the team's vehicles were parked, and they were already running inside to find cover, just as the tornado sirens started going off.

Melissa became frightened when she heard the sirens. "Billy!"

Bill grabbed Melissa's hand and they ran towards the warehouse. "Honey! Come on!" And he got her inside before she could ask what was going on. He looked back and saw that Jo was still staring at the direction that the tornado was coming from, and she seemed to be in a trance, obvious to the deafening rumble, the winds turning to gales that were blowing papers and lighter objects around. "Jo! Jo! Jo, Common'!"

Jo was standing transfixed, staring at the tornado. Suddenly she snapped out of it and ran to the snack bar, banging on the windows to warn the employees, screaming. "Get underground, take cover right now, let's go!"And they all run to the warehouse.

"The doors!" Dusty shouted, tugging on the doors, and the guys helped her close them. "Close the Doors! Doors! Doors!" And then Bill ran back out to get Jo. "Bill!"

Instead, Bill helped one last employee from the snack bar inside. "Get inside. JO, COMMON'!" he shouted at the blonde.

Jo was running toward him, but then she saw Laurence, hiding under the steering wheel of his car, and goes back to help him.

"What are you doing, come back!" Bill shouted at her.

Jo opened the car door and held her hand out to Laurence. "Come on, take my hand."

Laurence shook his head, shaking since he was terrified. "I can't-"

"Take my hand!" Jo shouted and he grabbed it. Pulling him out of the van, they both run to the warehouse.

"Come on!" Bill shouted frantically. "Hurry! Go! Go! Go! Let's go!" And he shoved them inside, just as Dusty rolled the door shut. "Everybody down in the pit! Get down! Let's go, everybody down! Jo, move, common'!"

Everyone scrambled to the pit in the floor of the warehouse, where they all huddled up in a corner in fetal position. Just then, the whole warehouse began to shake, and the windows imploded.

"Stay calm!" Bill shouted when a high pressure water hose suddenly came loose from it's latch, and it flew around.

Dusty and Preacher both tried to catch the hose, knowing that it could do some serious damage if they didn't stop it, and then Preacher was able to garb it. "I got it, I got it! Hah hah!"

Suddenly, a hub cap flew through the air and cut across Preacher's forehead. He immediately went into shock as he slumped against the wall of the pit and Jo held his forehead to stop the bleeding.

"My head!"

"You're okay!" Jo shouted over the roaring as the tornado went past, having just destroyed the movie screen moments ago.

Bill was holding onto Melissa, who was freaking out big time, having reached her limit. "It'll be over soon!"

"This is insane!" Melissa screamed, covering her head with her hands. "This is insane! I don't like this! This is driving me crazy! I can't do this anymore!"

"Stay calm!" Bill shouted, and they all screamed in terror when a car rammed through the ceiling, followed by the neon sign for the drive in theater crashing ont op of the car. "It's okay, honey! It'll be okay!"

Suddenly, the winds started to die down, and the lights buzzed and went out.

* * *

A/N: Talk about an intense day. R&R everyone!


	7. Chapter 6: GIVING DOROTHY WINGS

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: I know that this is a day early, but things have been picking up a lot at my movie job ever since _Thor: Ragnarok_ came out, and so I'm posting this today since I'm not sure that I'll have a chance tomorrow with an opening shift tomorrow morning and a staff meeting at my other job later that same day.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIX: GIVING DOROTHY WINGS**

" _And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him_ _._ _"_

 _Colossians 3:17_

Wakita, Oklahoma

June 18, 1996…

It was past midnight and Meg was in her bedroom, reading a book with a fan running, and on the TV, a movie starring Judy Garland was playing. When the wind chimes outside her window started going crazy and the TV screen switched to static, she grew tensed, put her book, and she headed for the door of her bedroom with Mose following her.

* * *

At the demolished drive-in, paramedics and police cars were pulling up as the door to the warehouse were shoved open, and everyone came out to take stock of the destruction and for the paramedics to treat those who'd gotten hurt, which included Preacher.

Dusty went to his bus, which had survived the attack, and he sighed as he climbed in to listen to the weather reports to find out where the tornado was heading next. "Man…"

"Oh, look at the truck, it's trashed!"

Bill had his arm around Melissa's shoulders, and he was surveying the damage. "Holy…" and then he moved away to help check on the surviving vehicles since two of them had been destroyed.

Melissa was staring around in disbelief when Beltzer came up next to her. "Is that what it was like up on that hill?" she asked, realizing that seeing the aftermath of a tornado on TV was vastly different from seeing it in real life, and living through it, too.

Beltzer shook his head. "That? No. We were lucky," he told her. "Those were just down drafts and microbursts. Tornado just side swept us."

* * *

Bill went over to Elle and Maxine, who were cleaning off the roof of their van, which hadn't been damaged, but a lot of debris was lying on top of it. "Is the Moroni Mobile still able to run?" he asked.

"Yeah, it survived better then some," Maxine confirmed. "Is Melissa ok?" she asked.

"She should be," Bill replied hopefully.

* * *

Jo was in the back of one of the ambulances, where Preacher was getting a bandage wrapped around his head when Dusty came up. "Can you tell which way it's headed?" she asked, referring to the tornado.

"It's backing northeast," Dusty informed her, his expression grim. "It's um… it looks to hit Wakita head on." And the moment he said those words, his eyes widened and he bolted back toward the bus.

Frantic, Jo jumped out of the ambulance and she ran for the bus, fearing for her aunt. "I'm goin'. I'm goin', let's go, let's go!"

"We're going!" Dusty shouted and the team sprang into action, deciding who would ride with who since they were now down two vehicles, and they all were yelling frantically.

Bill ran after her. "Jo, wait!"

Jo was already in the bus, looking for one of the cellphones. "Where's the phone?!"

"The lines are down," Beltzer informed her. "Jo, I already tried."

"We're going," Jo stated.

"Damn it," Bill muttered when he heard that the tornado, an F4, was heading straight for Wakita. "Hang on, I'll drive." And he ran back to talk to Melissa, who wasn't far off and was staring at the destruction.

Rabbit, having rescued most of his maps from the wrecked RV, came up, having figured out a route. "Hey, Jo, look," he said, showing her on the map. "We can jump on the 38 exchange and cross highway 132."

* * *

Bill hurried over to Melissa, who turned to look at him. "Hey, honey, I gotta go," he informed her. "It's Meg."

Melissa nodded with a thoughtful expression since she'd came to a decision. "I'm goin' back."

"Good, good, you'll be safe at the motel," Bill said with a faint smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

Melissa shook her head. "I won't be there."

"What?" Bill asked, confused. "Why? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying goodbye," Melissa answered.

Bill realized that she was leaving him for good, especially when she gave him back the engagement ring. "No-"

Melissa smiled at him sadly, closing his hand over the ring. "You know, I can't compete with this," she confessed. "I don't even know where to start!"

"Wait, don't do this now, please," Bill pleaded. "Please!"

Melissa shook her head gently. "Sooner or later it would have ended, we both know that."

Bill didn't want to believe that. "Please-"

Melissa didn't let him finish. "The funny thing is, I'm not that upset," she added. "What does that mean?"

Rabbit ran by at that point. "We can do it! Come on, let's move!"

Bill watched him for a moment and then looked back at his former fiancée. "I never meant for any of this to happen," he told her, and he was being honest.

"I know, Billy, I know," Melissa agreed. "It's okay."

"Bill, come on!" Dusty called out.

"You go ahead," Melissa insisted, motioning to Jo, who was watching them. "She needs you. I hope that Aunt Meg's okay."

"What about you?" Bill asked, hating that this was happening.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Melissa assured him, still smiling sadly. "I know my way home." And she walked away.

"We can be in Wakita in about an hour," Rabbit called out, getting his attention. "Bill, common'!"

Bill stared at Melissa's retreating form a moment longer, and then he ran for his truck, where Jo was waiting for him. It was time to go.

* * *

An hour later, the team drove into the ruins of what had once been Wakita, the "Welcome to Wakita" sign was lying on the ground, there were bonfires in the streets, along with debris scattered everywhere, babies were crying, and the families were picking through the wreckage while the rescue teams were searching for survivors.

Bill was staring at the devastation as he drove by. "Oh my God."

"They had no warning," Jo whispered, staring at the destruction and she lingered on a family that consisted of a mother, father, and a little girl, reminding too much of her own childhood. She returned to the present when Meg's house came into view, and it'd been compacted into one story. Strangely, most of the wind sculptures were still standing. "Oh my God." She immediately jumped out of the truck before it stopped moving, and ran towards the house.

Parking the truck, Bill grabbed two flashlights and ran after her. "Jo, Wait!"

Jo reached the house and started climbing, calling into the upstairs window. "Meg?!"

Bill ran over and he climbed up after her. "Jo, wait!" He soon reached where she was, which hadn't been easy.

"Meg?!" Jo screamed, reaching the window and was peering inside.

"Careful, this house could go any second," Bill warned her.

Jo climbed inside with Bill right behind her. "Meg?!"

"Jo, take a flashlight!" Bill shoved one in her hand as they stepped into the house, which was now a labyrinth of debris.

Jo turned the flashlight on, looking around frantically for her aunt. "Meg?!"

"This house is ready to go," Bill muttered, amazed that it was still standing after being hit by an F4.

"Meg?!" Jo shouted again, and she jumped when a dresser toppled over.

Bill pulled her to his side. "Careful."

Jo, however, was frantic. "Meg?!"

"Meg?!" Bill called out.

Suddenly, they heard a dog whimpering. "Shhh! You hear that?" Jo asked, straining her ears.

"What?" Bill asked.

Jo moved toward the sound of the dog's whimpers. "I think I hear something."

"Easy does it," Bill cautioned her as they followed the sound until they reached a hole in the floor, where they could see Meg's dog "Mose" below them, and lying on top of mattress was Meg, who was pinned down by a wall framing, and there was blood on the front of her nightgown and on her forehead.

"Meg!" Jo gasped fearfully.

"Mose, boy!" Bill called out and the dog waggled his tail in response.

"Mose! I think she's down here," Jo said. "Meg? We're here! We're coming down!" And they worked on climbing down, pausing whenever the house creaked, and it wasn't long before they were at her aunt's side.

Bill checked her over and she groaned, waking up. "Meg!" he gasped and he looked to Jo. "We gotta get this off of her," he added as Meg mumbled something. "Ready?"

"Don't move, don't move," Jo told her aunt as she helped Bill removing the framing and pulled her out from underneath it. "Watch her head, watch her head."

"Go!" Bill grunted as they lifted the framing off her. "I got it."

"Easy, easy, easy," said Jo as she helped Meg sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm all right… I'm fine," Meg replied groggily.

Suddenly the TV slid toward them, but its progress was stopped since it was being held back by the cord. Still, they all covered their heads, just to be safe.

"Get down!" Bill warned.

Jo covered her aunt's head. "Oh, God…"

"We gotta go, hurry! Let's go!" Bill ordered and he turned to Meg. "Think you can walk?"

Suddenly the cord snapped and the TV crashed to the floor!

"Watch out!" Bill yelped as they cowered when the TV crashed to the floor and exploded with sparks.

* * *

Outside, the team was heading for the house, when it began to buckle under itself.

"Oh my God," Elle gasped, her eyes wide. "It's going!"

"Jo and Bill went in there to get Meg," said Maxine, alarmed.

Dusty ran toward the house with Rabbit, Sanders, Joey, and Beltzer on his heels. "Meg! Meg! Meg, Bill!" He started climbing reach the window where Jo and Bill entered. "Some one take my – Joey, take my watch." And he handed off his watch to his friend before scaling the wall to the window.

Beltzer was right behind him. "Go, go! Careful!"

Dusty reached the window and he was about to go in. "Bill?" And he backed up when Jo and Bill came out, carrying Aunt Meg.

"We're okay, we're coming out!" Jo called out as Dusty helped them get Meg down the wall.

"Get an ambulance over here!" Bill shouted.

"Get an ambulance, Lawrence, Now! Go!" Dusty ordered sharply and Lawrence ran to flag down an ambulance.

* * *

Soon an ambulance came over, a paramedic hopped out and, after getting a stretcher, they headed to the house.

Joey assisted in help Meg down the wall to the ground, where the paramedics were waiting. "All right."

Rabbit was also helping Meg down. "There you go."

Meg was focused on getting to the ground. "Okay, okay."

"How 'bout some steak and eggs!" Beltzer joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Meg laughed, already feeling better despite having her house fall on her. "How nice of you all to come over." And they kept talking to her as they reached the ground and got her to lie down on the stretcher. "Bill!" she called out. "Grab Mose for me, I think he's a little shaken up!"

Bill, who was still near the window, smiled and waved to her. "Don't worry I'll get him," he promised. "Mose!" And he went back inside the house.

"Is she okay?" Jo asked the paramedic.

"We'll probably keep her overnight, just to be safe," the paramedic replied after confirming the head wound wasn't that bad, despite the blood.

"Overnight?" Meg repeated, offended. "Forget it. I'm all right."

Jo frowned at her aunt. "You're going to the hospital," she insisted.

"Okay, I'll go," Meg grumbled, "but I'm gonna drive myself."

Rabbit shook his head since he had bad news for her. "Honey, your car is in a tree around the corner."

Meg groaned and lay back on the stretcher, defeated. "Ohhh."

Bill came out of the house and made his way down the wall, carrying Mose. "It's okay, it's okay." Just as he reached the ground, the house behind him collapsed the rest of the way.

Meg groaned again. "Ohh!"

"It's a miracle we were able to get Meg and Mose out of the house when we did," Elle remarked and Maxine agreed, both shaken by the experience.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Dusty was in his bus, listening to the weather report, and it wasn't good news for the county.

 _`"The F4 that hit Wakita has now moved on to the north-east, I've just gotten word in that an even stronger tornado has now started to form 25 miles south of Wakita, but right now the two storm systems are funneling back, the National Weather Service saying that this is highly unusual and they are saying that this tornado could be the strongest in the state in more than 30 years-"`_

"Oh my God," Dusty muttered, realizing what this probably meant, and he motioned Beltzer and the Martin sisters over. "Look at this, look at this."

* * *

Meanwhile, Meg was sitting in the back of the ambulance wearing a wrist brace, and she had a bandage around the head. She was surprised when Jo climbed in and sat next to her. "Hey, what're you doin'?" she asked.

"I wanna see how you are," Jo answered, putting down her backpack and looked to the paramedic. "How is she?" she asked. "I was worried about you," she added to her aunt.

"She's all right," the paramedic told her before exiting to check on other injured people.

Jo examined her aunt's wrist. "Oh, look at this-" she moaned.

"It's nothing," Meg reassured her niece, having gotten worst burns from welding. "He says I have a bump on the head, and maybe a broken wrist…"

Jo tsked. "Let me see that." And she kept looking at her aunt's wrist again.

Meg rolled her eyes and gently pulled her wrist out of her niece's hands. "There's nothin' to see, it doesn't even hurt."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Jo apologized, using a cloth to clean her aunt's face.

"Stop blaming yourself, you got me out of the house," Meg stated and sighed when tears began to stream down her niece's face. "Jo, it's gotta stop," she said, changing the subject to the tornado issue. "I didn't have any warning. The sirens went off a few seconds before it hit, I didn't even get down the stairs."

Dusty came over just then with some news. "Jo. I'm sorry, uh, I was listening to the radio," he said hesitantly, "and, I mean, I don't even know if you wanna know, but I, it's happening, the NSSL's predicted an F5."

Meg noted her niece's expression upon hearing that there was an F5 out there. "Jo, it could of happened to somebody else," she pointed out. "You, you go stop it."

Jo began crying, feeling overwhelmed by everything. "I don't know how."

"Well, I think you do," her aunt told her, squeezing her hand. "You've been chasing these things since you were a little kid. It's what you do. Go. Do it."

* * *

Bill looked up when the ambulance pulled away, and he saw Jo, who was facing the house, and staring at Meg's wind sculpture. Haynes noticed, slapping Joey on the arm and pointing, and Elle and Maxine both turned to look, surprised since they'd expected Jo to go with her aunt.

Concerned, Bill walked over to her. "You all right?" he asked, his concern growing when she didn't answer. "I thought you'd go to the hospital with Meg." And when Jo still didn't react, still staring at the wind chimes. "Jo? What is it?" he asked. "What is it?"

After a few seconds of staring at the wind chimes, Jo finally spoke and she was smiling. "I know how to make Dorothy fly.

Bill looked at the wind sculpture for a second, and he realized what she was getting at. "Of course. Of Course!"

Pleased, Jo head over to the team with Bill at her side. "All right, I need every aluminum can you can find!" she ordered.

"We need cutters and duct tape!" Bill added, heading for his red truck. "Haynes, Beltzer, I want to get the last two Dorothy's on the back of my truck, and I want everyone working on it.!"

As the team scattered to find everything they would need, Dusty laughed, figuring that they were going after the F5. "We're gone!"

* * *

The sun was starting to rise as the team drove over a bridge, and in the back of the bus, half of the crew were busy cutting pin-wheel fans out of aluminum cans and screwing them onto the sensors. Preacher was driving the bus while rubbing Mose's head, having decided that it was best to keep Meg's dog with them until she was out of the hospital and found a new place to live until her house could be rebuilt. Cars were going the other direction honk their horns as an F5 twister spun in the distance.

 _`"_ _Dusty, you ready for us?"`_ Jo asked over the radio.

"Yeah, yeah, we're good!" Dusty confirmed, holding up one of the modified sensors, which now looked like an ornament with wings. "We're good? We're good? Very good!"

* * *

Pulling to the side of the road, Bill climbed onto the back, where the two remaining Dorothy's were located, and he was taking the lids off when the team arrived. "Let's go, come on!"

"We get 'em done?" Jo asked, also getting out of the truck.

Bill nodded. "I think so."

The team began pulling out boxes of sensors, now with the fans attached, and passed them up to Bill, Rabbit, and Sanders, who were pouring them into Dorothy 3 and Dorothy 4 until both were filled, and they put the lids back on.

"Beautiful!" Dusty cheered.

Bill smiled as both lids were attached to the Dorothy's. "Okay, okay!"

"Great job, guys, just be ready to report," said Beltzer. "Be careful, all right?"

Jo nodded. "Don't follow us close," she advised.

"All right, you got it, boss," Joey agreed.

"We'll be ready to record," Elle promised and Maxine agreed.

Rabbit nodded. "Okay!"

"We're back in business!" Joey cheered _,_ and they all hopped back into their vehicles.

"Come on, let's go!" Dusty shouted from the bus.

* * *

A/N: Next week will be the final chapter for this story. See you all next week! R&R everyone!


	8. Chapter 7: F5 TORNADO!

Twister: Chasing the Storm

A/N: Here's the final chapter, folks. Yes, once again I am posting today since I have an early shift at the movie theater tomorrow, and trust me, it's been crazy busy at work.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Twister_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER SEVEN: F5 TORNADO!**

" _His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof_ _._ _"_

 _Psalms 19:6_

Oklahoma

June 18, 1996…

Jo and Bill drove down the road, following the massive F5, and they soon figured out where to put Dorothy 3. "Half a mile more?" she asked.

"That's sounds right," Bill agreed. "I figure we'll put it right in the middle of the road."

"Unless you think somebody'll hit it," Jo teased.

Bill snickered. "Nobody'll be there."

As the F5 tornado approached the road that Jo and Bill were on, he stopped the car, and they got out. The tornado was on the road, directly in front of them. Bill goes around and he and Jo took Dorothy # 3, which was active and ready to go, out of the back of the truck.

"Hurry!" Bill shouted over the roar of the tornado. "Let's go, common'!" And they put it out in the road for the tornado to take. "Okay, that's good!"

"You got it?" Jo asked.

Bill nodded. "Let's go!" They got back in the truck, and Jo grabbed the CB radio}.

"Dusty, you in position?" Jo asked.

 _`"Yeah, we're prime, ready for contact!"`_ Dusty confirmed, excited.

Bill drove them a good distance away, and they stopped to watch the tornado.

"This is it," Jo said, excited.

"It's gonna work," Bill agreed.

Grinning, Jo spoke into the radio. "Just another minute, Dusty!"

 _`"We're ready for it!"`_

Jo and Bill pulled themselves out the windows, so that they could watch, and Jo got out the video camera. However, something was clearly wrong when Dorothy started rolling back and forth across the road.

"Common'', common' take her!" Jo shouted.

Bill frowned, realizing what was wrong. "It's too light-"

"No it's not!" Jo protested, even as Dorothy kept rolling across the road and back again.

"We're losing it!" Bill exclaimed.

Jo refused to believe it. "No we're not! She can still fly!"

Suddenly an uprooted tree came flying out of the tornado and it tipped Dorothy over. Just then, the tornado decided to change direction… towards Jo and Bill. Alarmed, they both duck back inside the truck.

"Let's go!"

"My God!"

They tried to drive away, but the car get stuck when a second uprooted tree collided with the truck in the middle of the road. Spinning them around until they were facing the incoming tornado.

"Oh my God," Jo moaned, positive that they were to be killed… just like her father years ago.

"Common'!" Bill grumbled, trying to get them off the tree, but the wheels were spinning uselessly.

"Get us off this thing!" Jo shouted.

Bill was still trying to get them off the tree. "Comon'!"

"Bill, kick it!" Jo shouted. "Bill! Let's go! Right now! Hurry!" And Bill was still floorin the gas, trying to get the truck off the tree. At that _exact_ moment, Jo saw something shiny flashing inside the tornado. "What is that?!"

Bill looked up, just in time to see the same shiny object. "What is that?"

As the metallic object came into view again, they saw that it was a truck with a gas tanker attached to it, and Jo felt her fear skyrocket to a whole new level. "Bill, hurry! _HURRY! HURRY!_ "

"This is not good!" Bill exclaimed, flooring the gas pedal no success as the tanker came flying out of the tornado.

"Hurry!" Jo screamed.

As the tanker came flying toward them, Bill threw his whole body weight onto the gas pedal. "Hold On!" he shouted as the tanker nudged the truck free, and he drove them down the road as quickly as possible.

Suddenly the tanker fell to the ground right in front of them, exploding and with no other option, they drove right through it with Jo screaming, and they came out the other side, with no damage of any kind.

"Son of a bitch!" Bill gasped, amazed that they made it through it.

 _`"Jo, Bill, You all right?!"`_ Dusty called out over the radio. _`"Can you guys hear me? You okay?"`_

Jo grabbed the mic and he spoke into it. "We're okay."

 _`"Jo, Bill, did you see that explosion?"`_ Dusty asked.

"We saw it," Jo answered humorlessly.

Rabbit spoke next over the radio. _`"This one, she's still moving northeast on 80, you copy?"`_ he asked.

"This is it," Bill said. "Last one."

Jo nodded. "Last time."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jonas and Eddie were driving after the tornado with DOT 3, and Jonas was certain that he was going to be victorious.

 _`"Mobile Lab to Mobile 1, ground speed still increasing, the base must be a mile wide, we can't see it anymore! What is your location?"`_

Jonas spoke into the radio. "We're right along side her," he informed his team, eyes fixed on the tornado. "She's beautiful. We're getting ready to place, so hold back a bit, prepare to monitor."

* * *

Jo and Bill were driving along a different road, listening to the reports over the radio, and they were looking for Jonas and his crew.

"They have to be there somewhere," said Bill, searching for some sign of their rival near the tornado.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jonas was getting ready to deploy his instrument pack. "Okay, path is stable, copy that? Men, this is it! This is the one! Stay sharp back there!" he ordered.

* * *

Bill frowned when he heard that. "They have position," he told Jo. "They could make it."

Jo shook her head, recalling what happen with Dorothy 3 earlier. "Not unless they anchored the pack," she pointed out, grabbed the mic, and she spoke into the radio. "Jonas? This is Jo. Can you hear me?"

 _`"Not now, Harding,"`_ Jonas responded, mildly surprised to hear her.

"Jonas, listen to me," Jo said seriously. "The pack is too light, the twister will toss it before it reaches the core, you have to anchor it."

* * *

Jonas raised his eyebrows, surprised that she was giving him advise and he responded. "Oh, sharing valuable information, Jo?" he teased. "I'll consider that, thank you."

* * *

"Jonas, listen to me!" Jo insisted, realizing that he wasn't going to take her seriously. "Don't be a-" she broke off when Bill looked at her. "What? Do you see them?" she asked.

Bill took the mic from her, and he spoke into it. "Jonas, what's your position?" he asked, positive that he saw the van near the twister.

 _`"Oh, howdy, Bill,"`_ Jonas said with a sneer in his voice. _`"We are heading northeast running parallel and about to pull ahead of it on the left, why?_ "`

"Hang back a minute, we've got a pretty good view from back here," Bill advised, eying the tornado. "She could shift her track, and if she does, she's gonna come right at you! D'you copy?"

* * *

Eddie frowned and looked at his boss. "Maybe we should do what he says," he suggested. "He's never put us in harm's way.

"When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you," Jonas snapped, annoyed. "Keep your mouth shut, put your foot on the gas, and stay on this heading."

 _`"It's unbelievable!"`_ Dean exclaimed.

Jonas frowned, wondering what he was talking about. "What is it, what's wrong?" he asked.

 _`"The base is so, huge! It must be at least, a mile wide! Do you copy that, Dr. Miller?"`_

* * *

Hearing this, Jo and Bill exchanged alarmed expressions since they knew that the twister was going to shift any second, and Bill spoke into the mic again.

"Jonas, listen to me. This is not-"

* * *

"Get off this frequency, Bill!" Jonas snapped, fed up, and he switched off the radio. _'I_ know _what I'm doing, and they can go suck eggs.'_

* * *

Frustrated that Jonas wouldn't listen to them, Jo and Bill watched the tornado, and sure enough, they could see the changes occurring.

"She's shifting," Jo said fearfully.

"Oh my God," said Bill and then he yelled into the mic again. "Jonas, I'm telling you… Eddie, I know you can hear me! Turn around now! Get out of there!" But it was too late.

* * *

Jonas' eyes widened in horror when the tornado suddenly shifted onto the road they were on, and a section of a radio tower came flying out. "Look out!" he screamed, but it slammed through the windshield, killing Eddie instantly. The black Windstar was then snatched up by the massive twister.

* * *

Jo and Bill watched helplessly as the black Windstar flew through the air, circling several times, and then it crashed and to the ground, exploding. Jo flinched at this and Bill threw down the radio mic in a fit of rage.

"Damn it!" he cursed, hitting the steering wheel. "Stupid." And he angrily hunched over the steering wheel.

"We tried," Jo said sadly, knowing that there was nothing they could've done to get through Jonas' thick skull, even if they had gotten to him in time. "There's nothing we could do."

Bill shook his head, he knew that there was something they could do, and it was reason they were out there chasing tornadoes in the first place. "Yes there is."

* * *

An hour later, Jo and Bill were driving down the road, chasing after the F5 tornado and they were getting updates from their team, who were set up far away, and they were monitoring their first ever F5, which was like seeing the hand of God for them.

" _Bill, Jo, ground speed is increasing,"`_ Beltzer reported. _`"Get ahead of it as fast as you can or she's gonna bury ya!"`_

And it was at that moment that debris started flying past the truck, narrowly missing them, and it wasn't small debris in the slightest.

"Debris!" Jo yelped as farming equipment came crashing down on the road directly ahead of them. "Dusty, we have debris!"

"Debris?!" Bill exclaimed, yanking the wheel doing his best to drive around the falling and crashing equipment, which consisted of cars, tractors, and road signs. It was falling everywhere, and Jo was directing Bill as it fell around them.

" _RIGHT!_ "

Bill swerved right.

" _LEFT!_ "

Bill swerved left.

" _RIGHT!_ "

Bill swerved right.

" _LEFT!_ "

Bill swerved left.

Jo yelped when a tire bounced off the windshield. " _DUCK!_ "

"What now?" Bill wondered as the tire rolled away, and he was hoping that he wouldn't regret asking that question.

"I have no idea," Jo admitted, out of breath from all the screaming earlier.

 _`"_ _Bill, Jo, you still with us?"`_ Dusty asked over the radio.

Before either of them could answer, suddenly a house came rolling along and stopped in the middle of the road.

"Oh my God," Jo moaned.

"I think we're goin' in!" Bill yelled, flooring the gas pedal since there wasn't any way to avoid the house.

Jo held onto the roof and she screamed. " _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_ " And they plunge through the house, coming out the other side through the back porch window.

Bill was definite rattled at this point. "Maybe we should get off of this road," he suggested.

Jo nodded, also rattled. "I think you may be right."

 _`"_ _Jo, Bill, you all right?"`_ Dusty asked, having seen everything through the video camera.

Jo grabbed the mic and spoke into it. "Yes. You guys set up?" she aksed.

 _`"_ _Jo, we're set,"`_ Dusty replied. _`"Goin' in?"`_

"We're goin' in," Jo confirmed.

Bill looked at her. "You ready?" he asked.

Jo nodded, undoing her seatbelt. "I'm on it."

"Be careful," Bill advised, returning his attention to the road.

Jo opened the back window of the truck and crawled through. Reaching Dorothy 4, Jo switched it on and crawled back inside. "She's up," she announced, buckling herself back in.

Bill nodded. "Okay." And he drove into the nearby cornfield, heading for the twister in the distance.

* * *

Dusty and the rest of the team were watching and monitoring the situation, and they were mildly alarmed when the red pickup disappeared into the cornfield.

"Where are they?" Rabbit asked, watching the scene through a pair of binoculars. "I can't see 'em!"

"They're in the cornfield," Maxine reported from on top of the van, Elle was at her side, and they were both filming with their video cameras. "Heading straight for the twister."

"Our first F5, beautiful," said Elle as she took pictures with a digital camera, looking forward to the artwork she was going to make later on.

"We're tracking 'em great," Haynes reported. "The speed's still increasing."

Beltzer shook his head, amazed. "I've never seen anything like this."

"They're gonna punch the core," Dusty reported.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jo and Bill were driving in the cornfield, right towards the tornado.

"You ready?" Jo asked, hoping that it would work since this was their very last chance.

"Yeah," said Bill. "Let me just set the cruise control." Which he did. "Okay we're good."

Jo unbuckled her seatbelt and grasped the door handle. "On three?" she asked, looking at him.

Bill nodded, grasping the handle of his own door. "On three. Go." They opened the doors and stood. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Jo shouted.

"One…Two…Three!" Bill shouted and they jumped out of the truck, rolled to the ground, and they got up. Holding hands, they watched as the truck continued toward the twister.

"Go. Go. Go!" Jo shouted, her eyes fixed on the truck. " _GO! GOOOO!_ "

When the truck and Dorothy were being lifted up into the twister, the lid was ripped off, and the sensors flew up into the air, disappearing inside like twinkling and chiming fairies. Jo and Bill hugged and cheered loudly.

"Yes! _YES!_ "

* * *

The team screamed and cheered as they saw both the pickup and Dorothy disappear into the tornado, along with the sensors.

"Dorothy's flying'!" Dusty roared, jumping up and down. "Baby, she's flying'!"

"There's no place like home!" Elle and Maxine cheered as they climbed down to the ground and joined the team as they gathered around the laptops, which were receiving the data from the sensors.

"We're going to be very popular!" Joey predicted, planting a kiss on Elle's cheek and she agreed, flushing a little.

Beltzer was looking at the Doppler radar and all the data that was coming in from the sensors. "It's Christmas Time! Look at that!"

"Look at these readings!" Haynes exclaimed, and then they all suddenly grew quiet, realizing what the readings were showing them. Haynes looked back toward the tornado. "You guys, it's about to shift northeast."

"Oh God," Maxine whispered fearfully. "They don't have the truck anymore."

Dusty immediately grabbed his radio and yelled into it. " _BILL, JO, YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THERE, YOU COPY?!_ "

* * *

Unfortunately, neither Jo or Bill had a radio, so they couldn't hear Dusty's warning, but they didn't have to since they easily saw that the twister was shifting direction, and it was heading directly toward them!

"Oh no!" Bill moaned as the corn between them and the tornado was being sucked into it. " _RUN!_ "

They broke off into a mad dash through the cornfield. It wasn't long before they spotted a farm with a barn.

"The barn, common'! Look out!" Bill yelled and soon they were running alongside a picket fence, where the horses were fleeing as far away from the twister as possible. All the boards were plucked up one by one right behind them. Suddenly, Jo spotted an opening in the fence to crawl through.

 _"BILL, HERE, HERE!"_

 _"COME ON, HURRY!"_ Bill yelled as they climbed through. " _TO THE BARN!_ "

They run to the barn and, after Jo kicked the doors in, got inside, just as fence boards slammed and stuck in the barn walls.

* * *

Once they were inside, they duck and saw that there were sickles, knives, and saws hanging from the ceiling.

Bill duck down, avoiding the blades. "Stay down!"

"My God, who are these people?!" Jo gasped, staring at the sharp blades hanging above them.

Bill shook his head, for there was no way they were going to stay in there. "I don't think so! Common'! Let's get out quick!" They ran out of the barn, and then ducked as the roof of the barn flew over their heads. "Oh my God! Common''! Run for it!"

* * *

As they ran, they yelled to each other but most of it couldn't be heard over the wind. They continued running until they reached the pump-house.

Bill yanked on the door, but it wouldn't open. " _COME ON!_ " He finally opened it. " _JO, GET IN!_ " He grabbed her hand when she was almost blown away, and they both dove inside.

* * *

Once inside and the door was locked, they saw that the well was a "U" shaped pipe coming up out of the ground.

Bill tested the pipe and found that it was sturdy. "Here! These pipes go down at least 30 feet," he estimated. "We anchor to 'em, we might have a chance!"

Looking around, Jo grabbed several rawhide straps off the wall. "Bill!" She handed them to him, but they broke.

"No good," Bill grumbled, and then he found one that was strong enough. "This one! Common', get in!" He grabbed it, tied it first around them, and then he looped it on to the pipes. "Hold on!" Suddenly the walls and roof were lifted away and only Jo, Bill, and the pipes remained. " _HANG ON!_ "

The tornado loomed overhead, Jo and Bill were lifted up in the air, however still attached to the pipes. They looked up and saw that they were looking at the inside of the tornado! Jo was awe struck as they stared up at a light at the top of the twister. Lightning circled around the light until the clouds, the lightning, and the twister blew away.

* * *

Minutes later, a family came up out of a storm cellar, and they were looking around as their horses galloped away.

Groaning, Jo and Bill were lying under the pipes, still strapped to them, and they both sat up after a few seconds, freeing themselves of the leather strap, being sprayed by water coming out of the pump.

"You all right?" Jo asked.

Bill nodded and noticed something that made him smile. "Wow, look at that," he remarked. "It didn't take the house." And sure enough, the three-story house was still intact, minus a few shingles from the roof.

In the distance, their team was driving toward them, following both the road and the path of destruction left behind by the tornado.

Jo was smiling for an entire different reason. "We did it."

"Yeah, we did," Bill agreed, pleased with their success, and on the fourth try after they got the bugs worked out of the system. "Dorothy really flew."

"It was a good idea," Jo complimented.

Bill flushed and duck his head. "Yeah, well I…"

"We've got so much to do," Jo realized, already imagining all the data that they were going to have to go through thanks to the sensors.

Bill nodded. "Yeah."

Jo's mind was going fifty miles an hour as she processed all the work that was waiting for them, and what the future would bring. "I've got to get grant approvals for a new warning system," she said quickly, "we need a bigger lab, you've got to do an analysis of all that data…"

"I do?" Bill asked skeptically.

Jo nodded. "Yeah, we've got to generate models out of all this data, and I need to run the lab-"

"Oh, no, no, no," Bill interrupted, grinning. "You're doing the analysis, _I'm_ running the lab."

"You're running the lab?" Jo scoffed, grinning, too. "I don't think so!"

"I'm running the lab!" Bill insisted and then laughed. "G- Do you always have to do things the hard way?"

Just then, their team came running up after parking their vehicles, and they were all excited by the success of Dorothy and relieved to see that the couple was alive after riding out an F5 tornado of all things.

"You got it guys, the sensors worked!" Haynes announced, bursting with excitement. "The computers went crazy, we've got data coming out of our ears!" And they all laughed.

"Biggest twister ever recorded!" Beltzer exclaimed since it was, even for an F5.

Dusty was jumping around, unable to stay put for more then a few seconds. "Awesome, man!"

"Hey, Jo, Bill, check out that sky!" said Sanders, pointing to the sky, which was clear for the first time in days.

"You know what," Jo said, "I think we've seen enough." And then she and Bill kissed.

The team cheered and laughed, for they knew that there was no way now that Jo and Bill were going to go through with the divorce, and they all danced around, laughing at their success while Mose barked happily as a rainbow formed high above them.

* * *

A/N: And that's a wrap! So, I'm not sure of what I'll be posting next week, but I'll post something. R&R everyone!


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